Iraq Veteran Killed Hours Before Graduation

Iraq War veteran from Lemont killed in crash hours before college graduation
Chicago Tribune
By Kim Geiger
Tribune reporter
May 18, 2014

Iraq war veteran Paul Davidson III when he graduated the Marine Corps basic training.

(Family photo)

Paul Davidson III was just hours away from receiving his degree in architecture from the University of Illinois when he was killed Friday night in a traffic accident.

Davidson, 30, originally of Lemont, was riding his motorcycle down an Urbana street when he was struck by a car and killed, according to police reports.

He was on his way to have his hair cut before his Saturday graduation ceremony, said his mother, Corinne Davidson.

An Iraq War veteran and motorcycle enthusiast, Davidson was an honor student with a passion for architecture, his mother said.

“You should see some of the models this kid has done,” Davidson said of her son. “He has designed the most gorgeous stuff. He was just something else.”

Even during his time in the Marines, Davidson’s interest in architecture guided his work. While in Fallujah in 2005, he was assigned to a combat engineering unit, which specialized in buildings, his mother said.
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