Pendleton Marine killed in Long Beach

[thedrifter]

Pendleton Marine killed in Long Beach

SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES
7:32 a.m. October 20, 2003

LONG BEACH – Two men, including a decorated combat engineer who had returned from Iraq in July, were fatally shot near downtown Long Beach, it was reported today.

Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung, a 22-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, and a family friend, 21-year-old Long Beach resident Vouthy Tho, were shot about 1 a.m. yesterday in the 1200 block of East Seventh Street, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

Friends and family, including relatives from San Francisco, had been celebrating Ung's return from Iraq, the newspaper reported.

"(Ung) was talking about how much he didn't like the city, because of all the shootings lately," a family friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper. "Next thing you know, It happened to him."

The men and three other people were in a garage set back from Seventh Street at the end of a long driveway when the shooting occurred. The suspect, described only as a male, fled and was being sought.

Investigators were unsure of a motive for the crime.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031020-0732-twodead.html

Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

Prayers to the Family
May He Rest In Peace

[Omega]

Hope they catch 'em and hang 'em high.

[thedrifter]

Slain marine buried near San Francisco with military honors

By Elizabeth Lydon
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:04 p.m. October 27, 2003

SAN BRUNO – Friends, family and military officers gathered here Monday to bid farewell to a decorated Marine who was gunned down in Southern California not long after he returned from fighting in Iraq.

Marine Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung, 22, was buried with full military honors in Golden Gate National Cemetery, south of San Francisco.

"He never asked for anything back. His life was very purposeful," Ung's sister Tia Ung, 23, said through tears as she delivered a eulogy to her younger brother. "We'll never forget him. We will miss him very, very much."

A combat engineer from San Francisco, Ung was a member of the "diversion force" that helped rescue Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in April. Ung's unit attacked Iraqi soldiers while a special forces unit went into the hospital to rescue Lynch.

Later that month, Ung was hit by shrapnel from a land mine, wounds that earned him a Purple Heart.

Ung returned from Iraq in July and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, where he was set to complete his four years of military service on Oct. 31. He planned to return to San Francisco, where he grew up, and attend San Francisco State University in January.

But just 12 days before he was to be discharged from the military, Ung was killed at a party at his father's house in Long Beach. A gunman leaned over a wooden fence and fired into the garage, killing Ung and his friend.

The gunmen fled and has not been caught. Long Beach police are still investigating the case.

On Monday, about 200 people, including two dozen Marines, packed a funeral home in San Francisco's Mission District to pay their last respects at a formal Buddhist ceremony.

Buddhist monks in mustard-colored robes and shaved heads performed a traditional ceremony to guide the deceased's spirit on its journey to the afterlife. The monks chanted in Cambodian, lit candles and burned incense over the casket.

After the ceremony, Ung's casket was draped in an American flag and taken to the cemetery in a hearse followed by more than 100 cars. After the casket was lowered into the ground, a military color guard saluted and a bugler played taps.

Gunnery Sgt. Graham Hilson, who attended the burial, served with Ung in Iraq.

"He was a great Marine," Hilson said. "The other Marines in our platoon had a lot of respect for him."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031027-1804-ca-iraq-marinekilled.html


Sempers,

Roger
:marine: