Marine Sgt. Lea R. Mills The first time Mills came into Christine Kostis' high school classroom, Kostis mispronounced his name. Mills took it good-naturedly. "I said Lea, like L-E-A-H," Kostis recalled. He was used to it. "He said, "It's Lea like pea, P-E-A. Doesn't that make sense?" Mills, 21, of Brooksville, Fla., was killed by a roadside bomb April 28 in Anbar province. He was a 2002 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Pendleton. "He felt he needed to go and wanted to go, so he volunteered," said his father, Rob. "Everybody in the family, on the men's side, has been in the service. We believe we owe it to our country." Family friend Debbie Neilson said her son, Doug, and Mills were friends since they were 5 years old. "I was his babysitter," Neilson said. "He was the most polite young man. He always said 'Yes, ma'am' and he grew up into a beautiful young man." Mills loved heavy metal music and attended the Livestock hard rock festival in Zephyrhills every year. Despite his taste in music, Lea was very much a Southern gentleman,Neilson said. He also is survived by his widow, Keesha Malicoate.
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