thedrifter
04-08-09, 09:08 AM
April 7, 2009
Names released for Marines killed in Spartanburg wreck
By E. Richard Walton
STAFF WRITER
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit released the full biographies of two U.S. Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., who died in a single-vehicle wreck on March 28 in Spartanburg, a spokesman said.
Lance Cpl. Robert J. Lagassie of Fredericksburg, Va., a passenger, was a machine gunner who was presented with the Global War on Terrorism Award and the National Defense Services Medal, according to Marine Capt. Clark Carpenter.
Private Fire Class James E. Witt of West Moreland, Pa., who was driving, had a job as a rifleman, he said. He was awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal, a Sea Service Deployment Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Medal, Carpenter said.
The Marines were from the Battalion Land Team, 3 Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.
Witt is believed to have lost control and struck a tree on a rainy Saturday. troopers say. Both Marines were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Dwayne Corn, a spokesman for the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated, a spokesman said.
Ellie
Names released for Marines killed in Spartanburg wreck
By E. Richard Walton
STAFF WRITER
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit released the full biographies of two U.S. Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., who died in a single-vehicle wreck on March 28 in Spartanburg, a spokesman said.
Lance Cpl. Robert J. Lagassie of Fredericksburg, Va., a passenger, was a machine gunner who was presented with the Global War on Terrorism Award and the National Defense Services Medal, according to Marine Capt. Clark Carpenter.
Private Fire Class James E. Witt of West Moreland, Pa., who was driving, had a job as a rifleman, he said. He was awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal, a Sea Service Deployment Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Medal, Carpenter said.
The Marines were from the Battalion Land Team, 3 Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.
Witt is believed to have lost control and struck a tree on a rainy Saturday. troopers say. Both Marines were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Dwayne Corn, a spokesman for the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated, a spokesman said.
Ellie