Police Asking for Help in Hit-and-Run That Killed Marine, 22

After high school, Maddison Peterson spent a year and a half in college, but it didn't work out, his mother said. He decided to enlist in the Marines, understanding that it could soon mean a trip to the front lines, she said.

She said her son was sitting on the couch one Sunday afternoon, looking out the window, watching his dad mow the lawn. "Where am I going to be in 10 years? Chances are, sitting here on this couch, looking out the window," he told her. That's when he decided he wanted to "help those people in Iraq," she said.

After boot camp, he was stationed at the Marine Barracks Washington, where he worked security. He was to be deployed to Afghanistan in July.

When he told his mother he'd be going off to war, he said he did not want a funeral if he didn't make it back.

"I don't want people to be sad because of me," Pam Peterson recalled her son as saying. "I don't want people to come cry over me."

So, this week, she had a memorial service for him. About 1,000 people came, she said. His old coaches and teachers, friends and teammates. And Pam Peterson transformed a stage in the church into one big living room. She brought in a couch and lounge chairs and bar stools.

"I wanted everyone to know we were just going to hang out with him one last time," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Arlington police at 703-228-4050 or the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at 202-579-7920.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.