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thedrifter
08-08-06, 07:30 AM
Marine killed in Iraq shot by insurgents in Fallujah


MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A U.S. Marine from Springfield who died in Iraq was shot and killed by insurgents in Fallujah on his birthday.

Lance Cpl. Kurt Dechen, 24, was on a foot patrol in the insurgent-dominated city on Thursday when his unit came under fire and he was shot, said Gunnery Sgt. Pete Walz, a spokesman for 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. He was evacuated for medical treatment but died of his wounds, according to a statement from the Marines.

A spokesman for the family said it will be at least a week before a funeral is held.

Dechen was part of a reserve unit based in Plainville, Conn., that was sent to Fallujah for duty five months ago.

He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which was a part of Regimental Combat Team 5, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

He was remembered in his hometown of Springfield where he graduated from high school in 2001 as a "good kid."

"He was a good kid," his mother Dale said. "Proud of being a Marine."

Jo Coleman said Dechen played sports with her son.

"He was very outgoing. He had big smile on his face all the time," she said. "When he was on the basketball court that's what you could see, his big smile."

Dechen joined the Marines with a friend right after high school.

April Coen said Dechen and her son wanted to be in the military like their fathers had. Her son Pat had wanted to enlist in the Army but Dechen urged him to go into the Marines, she said.

"Kurt kept saying, 'We're going to do the Marine Corps. They're the way to go. They're the best of the best,'" Coen said.

The two joined the Marines in November of 2001, five months after graduating from high school, but waited until the summer of 2003 to enter, she said. They were in different units and were deployed to Iraq at different times.

Dechen was the 22nd serviceman with Vermont ties to be killed in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. A 23rd Vermonter died of natural causes in Kuwait.

Ellie

FistFu68
08-08-06, 10:34 AM
:usmc: ALL GAVE SOME~SOME GAVE ALL :usmc: :iwo: