thedrifter
04-12-06, 07:16 AM
Marine Wanted to Make Military a Career
By Carol morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; B08
A Marine who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb was buried at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, just five weeks after he returned to the war zone.
Staff Sgt. Eric A. McIntosh of Trafford, Pa., was the 226th enlisted member of the military killed in the Iraq war to be buried at Arlington. He turned 29 last month.
He was interred beside a cherry tree blooming with pink flowers, with all the haunting ceremony with which the military honors its fallen: three volleys fired by seven riflemen, a bugler playing taps and the folding of the American flag that draped his coffin, which was then handed to his widow. Navy Lt. Robert Bradshaw, chaplain of the 2nd Marine Division in which McIntosh served, officiated.
A breeze carried the sound of birds chirping, and planes roared overhead on approach to Reagan National Airport on a path that takes them past the Pentagon.
Dozens of Marines, in dress white pants and blue jackets, attended the graveside service. So did about 20 members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists who attend funerals of military men and women as a show of respect, when invited by family members.
McIntosh would have marked his 10th anniversary as a Marine in September. He was an infantry unit leader assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division as part of a Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The Defense Department said McIntosh was killed April 2 in Anbar province, an area west of Baghdad that is rife with insurgents. A high number of U.S. troops have been killed around Anbar, as have many Iraqi civilians. But U.S. casualties in Iraq have lessened in recent weeks, and the day McIntosh died marked the highest death toll for U.S. troops in three months, with at least 10 Marines dead.
McIntosh was one of three Marines riding in the last Humvee in a convoy near the town of Ramadi when an improvised bomb exploded next to the vehicle, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. Lance Cpl. Kun Y. Kim, 20, of Atlanta and Cpl. Scott J. Procopio, also 20, of Saugus, Mass., were killed in the same attack.
McIntosh intended to make a career of the Marines, perhaps becoming a recruiter once he returned from his second tour or attending officer's training school, his relatives have told reporters.
He spent most of his youth in Indiana and moved to Pennsylvania when he was in high school, according to the Indianapolis Star. He joined the Marines shortly after graduation, his older brother, Richard, told the paper. He married his wife, Cynthia, on Sept. 10, 2001, the day before the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon that would lead to his deployment.
Rest In Peace
Ellie
By Carol morello
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; B08
A Marine who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb was buried at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, just five weeks after he returned to the war zone.
Staff Sgt. Eric A. McIntosh of Trafford, Pa., was the 226th enlisted member of the military killed in the Iraq war to be buried at Arlington. He turned 29 last month.
He was interred beside a cherry tree blooming with pink flowers, with all the haunting ceremony with which the military honors its fallen: three volleys fired by seven riflemen, a bugler playing taps and the folding of the American flag that draped his coffin, which was then handed to his widow. Navy Lt. Robert Bradshaw, chaplain of the 2nd Marine Division in which McIntosh served, officiated.
A breeze carried the sound of birds chirping, and planes roared overhead on approach to Reagan National Airport on a path that takes them past the Pentagon.
Dozens of Marines, in dress white pants and blue jackets, attended the graveside service. So did about 20 members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists who attend funerals of military men and women as a show of respect, when invited by family members.
McIntosh would have marked his 10th anniversary as a Marine in September. He was an infantry unit leader assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division as part of a Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The Defense Department said McIntosh was killed April 2 in Anbar province, an area west of Baghdad that is rife with insurgents. A high number of U.S. troops have been killed around Anbar, as have many Iraqi civilians. But U.S. casualties in Iraq have lessened in recent weeks, and the day McIntosh died marked the highest death toll for U.S. troops in three months, with at least 10 Marines dead.
McIntosh was one of three Marines riding in the last Humvee in a convoy near the town of Ramadi when an improvised bomb exploded next to the vehicle, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. Lance Cpl. Kun Y. Kim, 20, of Atlanta and Cpl. Scott J. Procopio, also 20, of Saugus, Mass., were killed in the same attack.
McIntosh intended to make a career of the Marines, perhaps becoming a recruiter once he returned from his second tour or attending officer's training school, his relatives have told reporters.
He spent most of his youth in Indiana and moved to Pennsylvania when he was in high school, according to the Indianapolis Star. He joined the Marines shortly after graduation, his older brother, Richard, told the paper. He married his wife, Cynthia, on Sept. 10, 2001, the day before the attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon that would lead to his deployment.
Rest In Peace
Ellie