U.S. Marine Cpl. Jayme Vines was supposed to start his second tour of duty in Iraq Oct. 5.
He and his wife, Maria Vines, already had made plans for when his active duty ended in 2010. They would move to Houston, where he had a job lined up.
They would have a family.
Instead, the 21-year-old from Mentor died after a motorcycle crash Friday in Pauma Valley, Calif.
Vines was stationed in Camp Pendleton in California. He and a friend were driving separate motorcycles on state Route 76 when he hit a patch of gravel, and the bike slid out from underneath him, authorities said.
Medics were unable to resuscitate Vines, and he was pronounced dead at Tri-City Medical Center.
“He had a vision,” said his father, Ron Vines. “He had his career ahead of him. He constantly looked ahead to how he could improve himself.”
After returning from his first tour in Iraq, Vines would often talk about how precious life was, his father said. On Memorial Day, he married Maria Ferris in the gazebo of Wes Point Park in downtown Willoughby.
“He wanted a family, a big family,” Ron Vines said.
Vines was best friends with Cpl. Joshua Harmon, an Army medic from Lake County who died a year ago when his helicopter crashed in Kirkuk, Iraq.
The two bonded over their shared love of cars and guitars.
Both men died in crashes — though Harmon died in a helicopter crash that killed 14 and Vines was the only one who died in his motorcycle crash — both had been married just months when they died and left behind young widows, and, of course, both were in the armed services.
Vines, Harmon and Lance Cpl. Scott Walland of Mentor had wanted to enlist in the Marines together. Harmon was not allowed because he was colorblind, so he joined the Army instead. When Harmon died, Vines was unable to attend the funeral because he was serving in Iraq.
Walland was stationed at Camp Pendleton with Vines, and the two had talked about hanging out the night Vines died, Walland said.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” he said. “I had talked to him just 20 minutes earlier.”
Vines loved anything with a motor — cars, motorcycles — and loved driving, Walland said. Friends and family recognized the tragic coincidence that he died doing something he enjoyed.
“It was all about cars and bikes and, to be honest with you, speed,” Ron Vines said.
Ron Vines and his daughter Kristyn Vines are in Mentor. Meanwhile, Jayme Vines’ mother Susan Vines, brother Cory Vines and wife are in California, arranging for his body’s return to Lake County.
Ron Vines bought his son’s burial plot Monday. It’s in Mentor Cemetery, right by Harmon.
“They are right together, head-to-head. There will only be 2 feet separating them,” he said.