Pocono News Section

Local Marine Killed in Car Crash

Local Marine Killed in Car Crash - Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 9:25PM EST

Milton, Northumberland County-
Two young Marines are dead and one injured following a horrific crash Tuesday morning in Franklin County.

The soldiers had been on leave and were returning to their base at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina.

An SUV driven by 19-year-old Timothy Miller, of Hughesville, crossed the median on Interstate 81, where it was struck by four oncoming tractor trailers.

Miller is hospitalized.

18-year-old Justin Clayton, of Milton, and another Marine from Louisiana didn’t make it out alive.

Clayton was a recent Milton High School graduate and served as a lifeguard at the local YMCA.

YMCA Program Director Ann Lawton noted, “He was just always smiles, and happy, and never took anything with a chip on his shoulder.”

News of the crash has hit this Northumberland County community especially hard.

Lawton said, “Disbelief. I mean disbelief. His mother had come into work last evening and said that Justin was on his way back to Camp LeJeune, and she was a little concerned she hadn’t heard from him.”

Those who knew him say family and friends were two of the most important things to Justin. He was also passionate about his service as a Marine.

Lawton added, “I know that once he went in the Marines, because his mother works here at the desk, she related to us how much he enjoyed it, and that he was doing a good job.”

Milton High School teachers remember Justin Clayton as a hard worker with a positive outlook and great sense of humor. Grief counselors were on hand to assist students on Wednesday.

It’s a loss that will certainly be felt throughout this community for a long time to come.

Investigators have not officially ruled on the cause of the crash. But they’re looking into the possibility that the Miller may have fallen asleep at the wheel.