thedrifter
02-09-06, 07:14 AM
Bomb Kills Marines In Iraq
Va. Beach Man Was on Second Overseas Tour
By Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 9, 2006; B02
A Marine from Virginia Beach was one of two Marines killed Monday while conducting counterinsurgency operations in central Iraq.
Cpl. Orville Gerena, 21, died from wounds caused by an improvised explosive device during combat in the city of Hit, military officials said yesterday. He was an infantryman in the battalion landing team of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Lance Cpl. David S. Parr, 22, of Benson, N.C., was killed by the same roadside bomb.
Gerena enlisted in the Marines in December 2002, said spokesmen for the unit at its home base of Camp Lejeune, N.C. This was his second overseas deployment, they said. Among his awards were the unit's global war on terrorism medals, but it was unclear whether they had been awarded for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
His unit departed Camp Lejeune in early November and established a base in Hit in late December. Its mission was to fight insurgents and help rebuild infrastructure, according to articles on the unit's Web site.
Hit is in the western Anbar province, an area rife with insurgent activity.
In addition to fighting insurgents, the Marines worked filling potholes and craters caused by roadside bombs and helping to train the fledgling Iraqi security forces.
In an article appearing on the unit's Web page only 11 days before Gerena and Parr died, the Marines described patrolling the city on foot together with Iraqi soldiers. When they first arrived, the Marines often encountered Iraqis who shut their doors and hid their children inside. But lately, the article said, the Marines had been able to mingle with local residents, buying goods from vendors in the market and being invited into houses for tea.
About half the Marines in C Company, which was Gerena's, were on their second tour of duty in Iraq. The deployment was scheduled to last seven months.
Ellie
Va. Beach Man Was on Second Overseas Tour
By Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 9, 2006; B02
A Marine from Virginia Beach was one of two Marines killed Monday while conducting counterinsurgency operations in central Iraq.
Cpl. Orville Gerena, 21, died from wounds caused by an improvised explosive device during combat in the city of Hit, military officials said yesterday. He was an infantryman in the battalion landing team of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Lance Cpl. David S. Parr, 22, of Benson, N.C., was killed by the same roadside bomb.
Gerena enlisted in the Marines in December 2002, said spokesmen for the unit at its home base of Camp Lejeune, N.C. This was his second overseas deployment, they said. Among his awards were the unit's global war on terrorism medals, but it was unclear whether they had been awarded for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
His unit departed Camp Lejeune in early November and established a base in Hit in late December. Its mission was to fight insurgents and help rebuild infrastructure, according to articles on the unit's Web site.
Hit is in the western Anbar province, an area rife with insurgent activity.
In addition to fighting insurgents, the Marines worked filling potholes and craters caused by roadside bombs and helping to train the fledgling Iraqi security forces.
In an article appearing on the unit's Web page only 11 days before Gerena and Parr died, the Marines described patrolling the city on foot together with Iraqi soldiers. When they first arrived, the Marines often encountered Iraqis who shut their doors and hid their children inside. But lately, the article said, the Marines had been able to mingle with local residents, buying goods from vendors in the market and being invited into houses for tea.
About half the Marines in C Company, which was Gerena's, were on their second tour of duty in Iraq. The deployment was scheduled to last seven months.
Ellie