Second Marine with Connecticut ties killed in Iraq this week

[thedrifter]

Second Marine with Connecticut ties killed in Iraq this week
By Shelley K. Wong, Associated Press Writer | May 5, 2006

SUFFIELD, Conn. --The Defense Department on Friday confirmed the deaths of two U.S. Marines with Connecticut ties who were killed in combat in Iraq this week.

Cpl. Stephen R. Bixler, 20, of Suffield, was killed Thursday by enemy forces in Al Anbar province, the Department of Defense said Friday. He was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Capt. Brian S. Letendre, 27, of Woodbridge, Va., was stationed in Plainville with the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. He died Wednesday in combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province, military officials said.

Letendre was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserves inspector and instructor staff, the Defense Department said.

They were the 30th and 31st people with Connecticut ties to die in Iraq and Afghanistan since fighting began in Iraq in March 2003 and in Afghanistan in late 2001. Both men were on their second tours in Iraq, their families said.

News of Bixler's death came Thursday from his family.

"He was on a foot patrol, that's all we know right now," Bixler's father, Richard, said. "We were very proud of what he was doing. He would say a lot of positive things. He was totally committed to his mission."

Bixler was remembered in his hometown as an admired young man who excelled at academics and athletics in high school and enjoyed helping others.

An Eagle Scout, Bixler joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Suffield High School in 2003, his father said.

Kevin Goff, whose son was a close friend of Bixler, said Bixler was a genuinely nice person who made the choice early on in high school to join the military.

"Stephen was the ultimate person that just wanted a simple life and just wanted to do well for other people," Goff said. "He was the all-American kid who wanted to serve his country."

Under his high school yearbook picture, Bixler quoted legendary football coach Vince Lombardi: "I believe a man's finest hour is the moment he has worked his heart out and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered both the U.S. and Connecticut flags to be flown at half-staff until sundown on the day of Bixler's interment, which has not yet been scheduled.

Letendre was killed when a suicide vehicle exploded near him, his family in Virginia said Friday. It was his second tour of duty in Iraq.

"He wasn't ordered to go back to Iraq for another combat tour, and his unit was not going to deploy there, but he selflessly and courageously volunteered to go help train the Iraqi forces," his family said in a prepared statement.

"Brian just didn't feel right being back here in the U.S. while other Marines were serving overseas, and wanted to get back to the front lines as soon as he could," the statement read.

Letendre was born in California and raised in Woodbridge, Va., where he graduated from Potomac High School in 1996.

He joined the Marines in 2000 after graduating from Milligan College in Tennessee. After completing training, he chose to become an infantry officer. Before serving in Iraq, was deployed in Okinawa and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He first went to Iraq as part of the initial invasion in 2003 and earned the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a Combat "V" for valor. Letendre returned to train Iraqi forces about three weeks ago, his family said.

His survivors include his wife, Autumn, his 3-year-old son Dillon, his parents and two brothers. His wife and child live in Indianapolis and his parents live in Woodbridge, military officials said.

Letendre and his family lived in New Britain for about 18 months while he was stationed in Plainville, and Autumn Letendre worked as a teacher in Farmington, The Hartford Courant reported. The people who bought the Letendres' home six months ago said it was sold because Brian Letendre expected to be sent to Iraq and his wife wanted to stay with family in Indiana while he was overseas.

Letendre will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Dutiful Marine Had 'Followed His Heart' Back to Iraq
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 6, 2006; B02

Capt. Brian S. Letendre had survived one tour in Iraq. In the early days of the invasion, his Marine battalion had rolled north from Kuwait, engaged in heavy combat at Nasiriyah and elsewhere, and Letendre had come through it all decorated with a "V" for valor.

He made it home to Woodbridge, to his wife, Autumn, and his newborn son, Dillon.

Even after two years of calm, though, Letendre never felt comfortable knowing his fellow Marines were still fighting a war, his friends and family said. So he volunteered to go back, accepting perhaps one of the most dangerous assignments the war has to offer.

Three weeks ago, Letendre returned to train Iraqi soldiers. He was killed Wednesday when a suicide car bomber attacked his observation post in Anbar province, military officials and family said. He was 27.

"Brian just didn't feel right being back here in the U.S. while other Marines were serving overseas," his family and friends wrote in a statement. ". . . Despite others telling him to stay back and be safe, Brian could not resist his call to duty."

Brian Letendre grew up in Woodbridge. He was a good student with a competitive streak, his friends said, and was captain of the soccer team at Potomac High School, where he graduated in 1996. He went on to Milligan College in Tennessee, graduating in 2000 with a degree in computer science and a wife, his college sweetheart, Autumn.

He and two childhood buddies had decided about the same time to join the Marines, and Letendre was commissioned a lieutenant in May 2000.

"It was kind of an unspoken thing we all wanted to do," said Capt. David Bann, one of the friends. "We all wanted to get out there and serve our country."

Letendre trained at the Quantico Marine Base to become a military infantry officer. He was deployed to Okinawa, Japan; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and then to Kuwait at the start of the war. His son was born the day before he crossed into Iraq.

He returned from Iraq in May 2003 and was assigned a year later to the Marine Forces Reserve Inspector/Instructor staff in Plainville, Conn. Although he did not talk about it much, Bann said, Letendre was anxious to return to Iraq.

"He just didn't feel like sitting back," Bann said. "He wanted to do his part."

Letendre volunteered for an 11-man "military transition" team that was to train Iraqi army recruits, who have been so relentlessly targeted by suicide bombers. Three weeks ago, the job took him to Tammin, in the Anbar province of Iraq -- the swath of desert west of Baghdad considered the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgent movement.

On Monday, Letendre sent his wife an e-mail saying that he missed her and Dillon dearly but that he felt proud to be serving in Iraq. On Wednesday, he was killed. Military officials did not specify where Letendre was in Anbar when the suicide bomber attacked. Letendre's family said he was on foot when his post "received a complex attack," including from a car bomber carrying an improvised explosive device.

In the family's statement, Letendre's parents, Milton and June Letendre, said they believed in their son and what he was doing in Iraq.

"Several times throughout his life, Brian could have chosen the easier or more comfortable path, but he didn't," the statement read. "He . . . followed his heart to where he felt he could help make this world a better place."

Besides his parents, his wife and 3-year-old son, Letendre is survived by his two brothers, Justin and Nick. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ellie