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thedrifter
04-22-06, 08:17 AM
Lost sailor's body found after wreck
Saturday, April 22, 2006
AMY HSUAN
The Oregonian

The Department of Defense on Friday announced the recovery of the body of a missing U.S. Navy hospital corpsman from Beaverton.

On April 2, Petty Officer Marcques J. Nettles, 22, was riding with Marines near Al Asad when their 7-ton truck rolled over during a flash flood. His body was recovered Sunday.

Nettles graduated from Westview High School in 2002. He was a varsity football player and co-captain of the team his senior year.

His family, which lives in Washington, did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Anita Wold, who lives near Northwest 173rd Avenue and Walker Road in Beaverton, said former neighbors remain close to the family. Wold said many in the neighborhood displayed yellow ribbons in their front yards when they learned Nettles was missing.

"He was such an easy-going, sweet-natured young man," Wold said.

At Westview, principal Matt Coleman said staff remembered Nettles' positive energy. Nettles also ran track and was a "superfan," one of a group of students who are responsible for stirring school spirit.

Nettles enlisted in the Navy in January 2003 and was assigned to Force Service Regiment 1 Fleet Marine Forces Pacific.

Seven Marines died in the April 2 accident, and one Marine was injured. Nettles, who had been on a combat logistics convoy in Anbar Province with the Marines, was declared missing. The accident was not the result of enemy action, the Defense Department reported.

Denise Averna, a former neighbor who helped the Nettles family sell their home when they moved in March 2004, said Nettles was well-loved in his community, church and school.

"Marcques was an exceptional, exceptional human being," Averna said.

Ellie