thedrifter
05-03-07, 07:00 AM
A FAMILY'S SACRIFICE
A local Marine whose brother was killed in Iraq last year narrowly avoids the same fate
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
By Paul Purpura
West Bank bureau
A year ago, Lance Cpl. Derrick Cothran of Avondale and three of his fellow Marines were killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
On Saturday, his older brother, Cpl. Theodore "T.J." Cothran Jr., narrowly escaped the same fate. He was wounded by a roadside bomb in an attack that killed two other Marines, his family said.
"I thank God that he had his shield over him, that he wasn't taken from us," his mother, Elena Cothran, said Tuesday. "Without God, I don't know where I would be with the loss of my youngest child and my other son injured."
T.J. Cothran, 24, left his pregnant wife behind in March and shipped out to Iraq as an infantryman with Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines. He was driving the third Humvee in a line of vehicles when an explosion destroyed his vehicle and the one behind him, his father, Ted Cothran, said. He was taken to a military hospital in Germany, his family said.
Two Marines were killed and five were injured, his father said, citing information that is trickling in from the military to his daughter-in-law, Britany. He has not spoken to his son, he said.
Roadside bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, are said to be the leading cause of U.S. casualties in Iraq.
Last month, 68 of the 104 service members who died in Iraq were killed by IEDs, according to the Iraq Casualty Count, which tracks Defense Department data and posts it online. No data is publicly available on the number of troops wounded by IEDs.
Cothran lost his right index finger, suffered shrapnel wounds to one shoulder and injured a knee, his father said.
"The good news is he's away from there and he's alive and breathing," said his father, a former Marine. "It seems to me he's going to pull through. He's going to mend well."
But he said he was unsure of his son's future in the Marine Corps, particularly as an infantryman who relied on his right index finger -- his trigger finger. "That's a pretty important finger," he said.
The family received word Saturday, but did not know the extent of his wounds until Monday, and their knowledge of his prognosis and circumstances in the attack still were not "100 percent," Elena Cothran said.
"It's almost a deja vu kind of thing," she said of learning about another son in Iraq.
Derrick Cothran, 21, was killed by a roadside bomb in Al Anbar Province on April 15, 2006, about three weeks after arriving. He was survived by his wife, Victoria.
At his funeral in a Kenner church nearly two weeks later, hundreds of people mourned his loss and a Marine Corps officer presented a Purple Heart to the family before a three-mile-long procession shut down Interstate 10 for the drive to Metairie Cemetery.
T.J. Cothran was there, then a private first class wearing his Marine Corps dress blues.
"We have our moments of weakness, but we take comfort in knowing where he's at and we'll see him again," Ted Cothran said of Derrick. "It's been pretty rough."
The Cothran brothers attended John Curtis Christian School and were members of its football team. T.J. graduated in 2002, Derrick a year later.
T.J. Cothran met his wife, who is from Lafitte, while they were students at Nicholls State University, Elena Cothran said.
They moved to Hawaii, where his unit is based, but Britany returned to Louisiana to be near her family during her pregnancy while her husband is overseas.
"He's doing what he wants to do," Elena Cothran said. "He loves his country, and he's doing what he loves to do."
T.J.'s twin sister, Antoinette, is due to give birth this week, but his child is expected to be born in late August, Elena Cothran said.
"Hopefully, now, he may be here," she said.
Paul Purpura can be reached at ppurpura@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3791.
Ellie
A local Marine whose brother was killed in Iraq last year narrowly avoids the same fate
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
By Paul Purpura
West Bank bureau
A year ago, Lance Cpl. Derrick Cothran of Avondale and three of his fellow Marines were killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
On Saturday, his older brother, Cpl. Theodore "T.J." Cothran Jr., narrowly escaped the same fate. He was wounded by a roadside bomb in an attack that killed two other Marines, his family said.
"I thank God that he had his shield over him, that he wasn't taken from us," his mother, Elena Cothran, said Tuesday. "Without God, I don't know where I would be with the loss of my youngest child and my other son injured."
T.J. Cothran, 24, left his pregnant wife behind in March and shipped out to Iraq as an infantryman with Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines. He was driving the third Humvee in a line of vehicles when an explosion destroyed his vehicle and the one behind him, his father, Ted Cothran, said. He was taken to a military hospital in Germany, his family said.
Two Marines were killed and five were injured, his father said, citing information that is trickling in from the military to his daughter-in-law, Britany. He has not spoken to his son, he said.
Roadside bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, are said to be the leading cause of U.S. casualties in Iraq.
Last month, 68 of the 104 service members who died in Iraq were killed by IEDs, according to the Iraq Casualty Count, which tracks Defense Department data and posts it online. No data is publicly available on the number of troops wounded by IEDs.
Cothran lost his right index finger, suffered shrapnel wounds to one shoulder and injured a knee, his father said.
"The good news is he's away from there and he's alive and breathing," said his father, a former Marine. "It seems to me he's going to pull through. He's going to mend well."
But he said he was unsure of his son's future in the Marine Corps, particularly as an infantryman who relied on his right index finger -- his trigger finger. "That's a pretty important finger," he said.
The family received word Saturday, but did not know the extent of his wounds until Monday, and their knowledge of his prognosis and circumstances in the attack still were not "100 percent," Elena Cothran said.
"It's almost a deja vu kind of thing," she said of learning about another son in Iraq.
Derrick Cothran, 21, was killed by a roadside bomb in Al Anbar Province on April 15, 2006, about three weeks after arriving. He was survived by his wife, Victoria.
At his funeral in a Kenner church nearly two weeks later, hundreds of people mourned his loss and a Marine Corps officer presented a Purple Heart to the family before a three-mile-long procession shut down Interstate 10 for the drive to Metairie Cemetery.
T.J. Cothran was there, then a private first class wearing his Marine Corps dress blues.
"We have our moments of weakness, but we take comfort in knowing where he's at and we'll see him again," Ted Cothran said of Derrick. "It's been pretty rough."
The Cothran brothers attended John Curtis Christian School and were members of its football team. T.J. graduated in 2002, Derrick a year later.
T.J. Cothran met his wife, who is from Lafitte, while they were students at Nicholls State University, Elena Cothran said.
They moved to Hawaii, where his unit is based, but Britany returned to Louisiana to be near her family during her pregnancy while her husband is overseas.
"He's doing what he wants to do," Elena Cothran said. "He loves his country, and he's doing what he loves to do."
T.J.'s twin sister, Antoinette, is due to give birth this week, but his child is expected to be born in late August, Elena Cothran said.
"Hopefully, now, he may be here," she said.
Paul Purpura can be reached at ppurpura@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3791.
Ellie