Nineteen-year-old Marine from Bradenton killed in Iraq

[thedrifter]

Nineteen-year-old Marine from Bradenton killed in Iraq




By Mitch Stacy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:25 a.m. April 7, 2004

BRADENTON, Fla. – A 19-year-old U.S. Marine, only months removed from playing in his Bradenton high school orchestra, was killed in Iraq this week two months into his tour of duty.

Christopher Cobb, a member of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, was sent to Iraq on Feb. 9, his mother, Sheila Cobb said. She was informed of her son's death Tuesday.

Details of his death were not immediately available, but the Department of Defense said 12 Marines were killed Tuesday in a fierce battle Tuesday with insurgents in the city of Ramadi.

The last time Sheila Cobb heard from her son, he was about 20 miles from Fallujah, where an organized insurgency against coalition forces began over the weekend.

"He called from a satellite phone and said, 'Mom, I'm going to try and call you once a week.' But I didn't hear nothing all week from him, at all," Cobb told WFLA-TV in Tampa. Cobb's phone rang unanswered Wednesday morning.

Christopher Cobb graduated from Bayshore High School in May and joined the Marines in June.

Members of the school's ROTC unit lowered the flag to half-staff Wednesday morning in memory of Cobb, principal David Underhill said.

Underhill said Cobb was "one of those students you could always depend on to be in class, on time, with his work completed."

The teen was not an ROTC member, but played the violin in the school orchestra for four years.

Underhill said the death made many of the students "think of other people they know in the military who could potentially be in harm's way."

While she waited for her son's return, Sheila Cobb made ribbon badges for other military mothers.

She told the Bradenton Herald earlier this year that she had to come to terms with the idea that her son might be sent to Iraq, but thought his young age and little time in the service might have spared him from going to war.

"I really didn't think they were going to send him over there," she said. "But I support him, and I understand that he's got to do what he's got to do to defend his country."


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20040407-1125-iraq-marinekilled.html


http://www.signonsandiego.com/teaserimages/040407mother.jpg

Rest In Peace

[thedrifter]

Pendleton Marine from Minnesota killed in Iraq




ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:12 p.m. April 6, 2004

CAMP PENDLETON – A 22-year-old Marine from Minnesota has been killed in the Anbar province of Iraq, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.

Cpl. Tyler R. Fey of Eden Prairie, Minn., was killed by hostile fire Sunday, according to a statement from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Fey was a combat engineer assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Fey joined the Marine Corps on Sept. 19, 2000. His personal awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon .
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040406-1712-ca-iraqcasualty-fey.html

Rest In Peace

[thedrifter]

Names released of five Marines killed in Iraq

By: Staff and Wire Reports

OCEANSIDE ---- Military authorities released the names Wednesday of eight Camp Pendleton Marines killed in the escalating conflict in Iraq.

Full details surrounding the Marines' deaths were unavailable Wednesday. Military officials have not yet released the identities of at least 12 other Marines confirmed dead in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Matthew Serio, 21, of North Providence, R.I.; Lance Cpl. Christopher Ramos, 26, of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Cpl. Jesse L. Thiry, 23, of Casco, Wis., died Monday of "injuries received from hostile fire" in Al Anbar province, according to a written statement issued by the Camp Pendleton public affairs office. All three were members of Pendleton's 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.


Pfc. Christopher Cobb, 19, of Brandenton, Fla., Pfc. Deryk L. Hallal, 24, of Indianapolis, both of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, also died Monday in the province, which includes the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Another Marine killed Monday in Iraq was identified late Wednesday. Pfc. Moises Langhorst, 19, of Moose Lake, Minn., was assigned to the 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Also named late Wednesday as killed in action were Pfc. Ryan M. Jerabek of Oneida, Wis., and Lance Cpl. Travis J. Layfield, 19, of Fremont. Both were assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Cobb's mother, Sheila Cobb, told reporter she had just packed a box of cookies and hard candy to send to her son when the two uniformed Marines arrived to deliver the bad news.

The Marines didn't tell the family the details of his death, but the family is assuming he was among the dozen Marines killed in a fierce battle Tuesday with insurgents in Ramadi.

As his family gathered Wednesday afternoon in the small Bradenton apartment where Chris Cobb grew up, they got a phone call and even more bad news: Another relative, a career Marine set to retire this year, was missing in action in Iraq.

Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Blumenberg, 39, who grew up in Chiefland, Fla., was serving as an infantry sergeant in the same region of Iraq and his whereabouts was unknown, according to a half brother, Jim Tuten.

"We're hoping that maybe he's holed up somewhere, we don't know," Tuten said. "We don't want to give up yet."

The family remembered Chris Cobb as a shy, fun-loving teenager who played the violin in his high school orchestra, spent hours playing on the computer, enjoyed alternative rock and talked about a career in the Marine Corps.

His family saw him last when he came home for Christmas. He turned 19 on New Year's Day.

"He said, 'Mom, I don't want you to worry," Sheila Cobb said. "I left you some money in case anything happens to me. I'm not scared to go over there, because we need to take care of these people.'

"I was scared for him, real scared for him, but I knew he would be in God's hands."

His mother said she last talked to him two weeks ago, when he asked for chocolate chip cookies for himself and the candy for the Iraqi children.

According to Associated Press reports, Serio's last e-mail to his parents from the desert of Iraq, he requested homemade cookies and chewing tobacco.

"The guys had run out," his father, Anthony Serio, explained. "It was dry, dirty and hot, and he was looking out for his friends."

His parents were contacted Tuesday by the Marines, who told them Serio was hit by shrapnel.

A former high school football player considering a career in law enforcement, Serio enlisted in the Marines in 2001.

"He wanted to be a part of a team. He found that in the Marines," Anthony Serio said.

After boot camp, Serio was ordered to Camp Pendleton. As a recruit, he watched the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, on television. His father said the attacks didn't deter him from service.

"My wife would say she tried to talk him out of it. But patriotism was high. He wanted to be a Marine," the elder Serio said.

Matthew Serio's unit was one of the first into Iraq at the start of the war, his family said. Photos he sent home show him standing with his company atop the ruins of one of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces in April 2003.

Serio returned to North Providence a few times after President Bush declared an end to major combat in May. His last trip home was around Thanksgiving, his father said.

Serio brought Iraqi cigarettes home as gifts. He told funny stories about combat, ruined cities and life as a Marine.

"He was always good to have around. He was always upbeat and could get along with anybody," his father said.

Thiry was the 15th Marine killed in Iraq from Wisconsin since the war began more than a year ago.

Since Sunday, 34 Americans, two other coalition soldiers and more than 190 Iraqis had been killed in fighting across the country.

Family members said they were told Thiry was killed Tuesday morning in fighting in Fallujah. He had been in the country for less than a month.

They said he had volunteered for duty in Iraq, leaving behind the safety of a stateside training assignment in Quantico, Va.

"He wanted to serve his country and protect his country," said Sue Thiry, his stepmother. "He wanted to fight for his country, so he asked for a transfer."

An American flag and U.S. Marine Corps flag hung on the railings of the Casco home's front deck. Inside the farmhouse, a large framed photo of Thiry sat on the kitchen table.

Thiry was one of eight children. Most of Tuesday was spent notifying family, including Jesse's fiancee, Jamie Johnson.

Thiry's parents delivered the news to Johnson at her work.

"I knew," Johnson said. "There were no questions asked. I knew right away. I said, 'Don't say it, because I don't want it to be true.' "

Thiry was set to leave the Marine Corps in November.

Thiry and Johnson ---- who dated for nearly five years ---- became engaged in August. They planned to marry May 14, 2005.

Flags flew at half-staff at Moose Lake High School on Wednesday for the second Marine from the school to die overseas in less than a month, and the second from Minnesota to fall in as many days.

Langhorst, 19, was killed in action Monday in the Fallujah-Ramadi area of Iraq, said the family's pastor, the Rev. Larry Ladosser of St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church. He did not know further details, but the area is a Sunni Muslim stronghold where at least 15 Marines have died since Monday in heavy fighting.

Langhorst, who was based at Camp Pendleton, was the son of George and Judy Langhorst, of Moose Lake. George Langhorst declined to be interviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press.

"He was a talented young man, that's for sure," Moose Lake school Superintendent Tim Caroline said. Langhorst and one teammate went to the state Knowledge Bowl six years in a row, competing against high schoolers even when they were in junior high, the superintendent recalled.

Ladosser said the Langhorst family was doing well under the circumstances.

"They're pretty solid Christian people," he said. "They realize their son is with their Lord and savior. He was doing what he wanted to do."

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/08/military/iraq/22_28_184_7_04.txt


Ellie

Rest In Peace

[CPLRapoza]

Semper Fi, Marines. Rest In Peace

[DSchmitke]

Rest In Peace My Brothers Semper Fi.

[Super Dave]

Semper Fi my brother you are a hero to a nation. You Will Be Missed.

[tophor]

SEMPER FIDELIS brothers Rest In Peace. You will all be missed.

[jinelson]

Rest in Peace my young brothers, America and our Corps will not forget your sacrifice and devotion. Semper Fi

[thedrifter]

Authorities release names of 9 Camp Pendleton Marines killed in Iraq




SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES
7:30 a.m. April 8, 2004

SAN DIEGO – Authorities today released the names of nine Camp Pendleton Marines killed Tuesday in fighting in Iraq:

Lance Cpl. Marcus M. Cherry, 18 of Imperial;

Pfc. Benjamin Carman, 20, of Jefferson, Iowa;

Lance Cpl. Kyle D. Crowley, 18, of San Ramon;

Staff Sgt. Allan K. Walker, 28, of Lancaster;

Lance Cpl. Travis J. Layfield of Fremont;

Pfc. Christopher R. Cobb, 19, of Bradenton, Fla.;

Pfc. Ryan Jerabek, 18, of Oneida, Wis.; and

Lance Cpl. Anthony P. Roberts, 18, of Bear, Del.


Pfc. Moises A. Langhorst, 19 of Moose Lake, Minn., died Monday, base officials said.
They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/memorial/20040408-0730-marines.html


Ellie


Rest In Peace

[Tom Clear]

The good Lord must have needed some more Marines to guard those streets of Heaven, May God keep thier families, Semper Fi

[Ski03]

God keep you Brothers... Semper Fi and R.I.P.