thedrifter
06-28-08, 08:47 AM
Last modified Friday, June 27, 2008 6:36 PM PDT
MILITARY: Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Afghanistan
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
A Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant is one of the latest victims of the escalating violence in Afghanistan, perishing Wednesday in a roadside bombing in the country's Helmand province, the Defense Department announced late Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Strickland was on his third combat assignment when he was killed, according to information provided by a Camp Pendleton public affairs officer.
Strickland, 25, a native of Labelle, Fla., was assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
He was an ordnance disposal technician assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, a base spokesman said Friday. It was not immediately clear if his death was related to his job.
The base spokesman said Strickland was filling a vacancy with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment from Twentynine Palms in the Mojave Desert.
That unit and one from Camp Lejeune, N.C., have been in Afghanistan since early spring as part of an increase in Marine Corps forces sent there to help other U.S. and NATO military units deal with a rise in violence.
The 3,200 Marines sent to Afghanistan this year represents the first large-scale deployment from that branch of the military since shortly after the fall of the Taliban after the invasion in 2001.
Strickland was on his second combat assignment in Afghanistan. He also served on tour in Iraq and would have celebrated his ninth year in the Marine Corps on July 23.
Efforts to reach family members were not immediately successful, but WINK television in Florida reported that he had joined the Marine Corps at age 17 shortly after graduating high school.
The station's Web site carried a story that said Strickland was married and the father of a 3-year-old son. It also said he would be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
As of Thursday, at least 461 members of the U.S. military have been killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the invasion of Afghanistan, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. Of those, 324 died in combat.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
MILITARY: Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Afghanistan
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
A Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant is one of the latest victims of the escalating violence in Afghanistan, perishing Wednesday in a roadside bombing in the country's Helmand province, the Defense Department announced late Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Strickland was on his third combat assignment when he was killed, according to information provided by a Camp Pendleton public affairs officer.
Strickland, 25, a native of Labelle, Fla., was assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
He was an ordnance disposal technician assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, a base spokesman said Friday. It was not immediately clear if his death was related to his job.
The base spokesman said Strickland was filling a vacancy with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment from Twentynine Palms in the Mojave Desert.
That unit and one from Camp Lejeune, N.C., have been in Afghanistan since early spring as part of an increase in Marine Corps forces sent there to help other U.S. and NATO military units deal with a rise in violence.
The 3,200 Marines sent to Afghanistan this year represents the first large-scale deployment from that branch of the military since shortly after the fall of the Taliban after the invasion in 2001.
Strickland was on his second combat assignment in Afghanistan. He also served on tour in Iraq and would have celebrated his ninth year in the Marine Corps on July 23.
Efforts to reach family members were not immediately successful, but WINK television in Florida reported that he had joined the Marine Corps at age 17 shortly after graduating high school.
The station's Web site carried a story that said Strickland was married and the father of a 3-year-old son. It also said he would be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
As of Thursday, at least 461 members of the U.S. military have been killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the invasion of Afghanistan, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. Of those, 324 died in combat.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie