thedrifter
05-14-07, 07:43 PM
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
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