Second Marine drowns in Atlantic in a week

[thedrifter]

Second Marine drowns in Atlantic in a week
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 14, 2007 17:01:15 EDT

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Another Marine has drowned off the coast of North Carolina, one week after a master sergeant died trying to rescue two boys in the water.

The body of Lance Cpl. James Bullen, 22, with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, was recovered Saturday night near the North Topsail Beach shore where he was seen earlier that day, said C.J. Fillinger, the town’s interim police chief.

“He and a buddy were out swimming, and a rip current took them further away from shore,” Fillinger said. Another Marine swam out and pulled the other man to safety, Fillinger said.

While local authorities scoured the beaches, the Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter and two small watercraft to search for Bullen, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Justin Westmiller.

“They searched right up and until or just after sunset,” Westmiller said.

Bullen’s body was discovered near shore by the town’s fire chief and a police officer around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Fillinger said.

North Topsail Beach is one of three small beach towns on a barrier island south of Camp Lejeune and is about a 10-minute drive from the base’s back gate.

Bullen, from Madison, Ky., joined the Marine Corps on Sept. 23, 2003. He was a rifleman and an Iraq war veteran.

It was the second drowning of a Marine to be blamed on rip currents in a week. On May 5, a master sergeant based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point died rescuing two boys in distress off a beach about 65 miles north of where Bullen drowned.

Master Sgt. Michael Wert was with his wife and three children in Atlantic Beach when he and his daughter helped save the boys. But Wert disappeared as his daughter, Katrina, paddled the boys back to shore on a boogie board.

Attempts by rescuers to revive him were unsuccessful. His funeral was held Saturday in his home state of Michigan.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

May 15, 2007 - 12:00AM
N. Topsail drowning victim identified

Antonio Velarde
DAILY NEWS STAFF

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH - The body of a Marine who drowned Saturday after being caught in a riptide off North Topsail Beach was found in the same general area where he went missing, authorities said.

Lance Cpl. James Thomas Bullen, 21, who was with the Weapons Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, was found within 10 feet of the shore near the Myrtle Drive beach access at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, authorities said.

Bullen, whose body was apparently caught and kept tumbling in the current near where he drowned, was pulled ashore by members of the North Topsail Beach fire and police departments, said Lt. D. Freeman with the North Topsail Beach Police Department.

Bullen was taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital for identification, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

His family in Richmond, Ky., was notified of the incident, said Camp Lejeune spokesman 2nd Lt. Craig Thomas.

Authorities responded shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday to reports that two men were caught in a riptide about a mile south of the New River Inlet. The two men, including Bullen, were part of a group of three Marines and a civilian who were at the beach that afternoon, authorities said.

While the other Marine was pulled ashore by the third, Bullen went underwater before he could be rescued.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded with a boat and helicopter, along with the North Topsail Beach fire and police departments, Onslow County EMS and a representative from Camp Lejeune fire department, Freeman said.

In addition, authorities said, a helicopter was offered for use by the U.S. Navy when the Coast Guard helicopter ran out of fuel.

Bullen was also with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from June to December of last year, and helped evacuate Americans from fighting in Lebanon last summer, Thomas said.

Contact Antonio Velarde at avelarde@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, ext. 8464.

Ellie