thedrifter
07-21-09, 07:18 AM
MILITARY: Marine killed in Iraq
By TERI FIGUEROA - tfigueroa@nctimes.com
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal based at Twentynine Palms died Sunday while supporting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province, U.S. military officials said Monday.
Lance Cpl. Brandon T. Lara, 20, of New Braunfels, Texas, was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Twentynine Palms.
The Department of Defense had originally reported that Lara was a Camp Pendleton-based Marine. However, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division confirmed Monday evening that Lara actually had been stationed at the base in San Bernardino County.
Lara's personal service awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Lara, who was on his second tour in Iraq, is the second Twentynine Palms-based Marine to die in Iraq this year.
One Camp Pendleton-based Marine ---- Staff Sgt. Mark A. Wojciechowski, 25, ---- has died in Iraq this year, according to icasualties.org, which tracks military deaths. The Marine, from Cincinnati, Ohio, died in the Anbar province in April.
Last year, 14 Camp Pendleton-based Marines or sailors died in Iraq, according to icasualties.org.
In the six years since the invasion of Iraq, Camp Pendleton has lost 345 troops, second only to the 484 from the Army's Fort Hood in Texas, according to icasualties.org, and Twentynine Palms has lost 115 troops.
In February, President Barack Obama announced that he plans to reduce the number of service members in Iraq to 50,000 to support the Iraqi leadership.
There are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Camp Pendleton Marines remaining in the Anbar province, with oversight responsibility having shifted for the first time from the locally based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Call staff writer Teri Figueroa at 760-740-5442.
Ellie
By TERI FIGUEROA - tfigueroa@nctimes.com
CAMP PENDLETON ---- A U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal based at Twentynine Palms died Sunday while supporting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province, U.S. military officials said Monday.
Lance Cpl. Brandon T. Lara, 20, of New Braunfels, Texas, was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Twentynine Palms.
The Department of Defense had originally reported that Lara was a Camp Pendleton-based Marine. However, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division confirmed Monday evening that Lara actually had been stationed at the base in San Bernardino County.
Lara's personal service awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Lara, who was on his second tour in Iraq, is the second Twentynine Palms-based Marine to die in Iraq this year.
One Camp Pendleton-based Marine ---- Staff Sgt. Mark A. Wojciechowski, 25, ---- has died in Iraq this year, according to icasualties.org, which tracks military deaths. The Marine, from Cincinnati, Ohio, died in the Anbar province in April.
Last year, 14 Camp Pendleton-based Marines or sailors died in Iraq, according to icasualties.org.
In the six years since the invasion of Iraq, Camp Pendleton has lost 345 troops, second only to the 484 from the Army's Fort Hood in Texas, according to icasualties.org, and Twentynine Palms has lost 115 troops.
In February, President Barack Obama announced that he plans to reduce the number of service members in Iraq to 50,000 to support the Iraqi leadership.
There are an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Camp Pendleton Marines remaining in the Anbar province, with oversight responsibility having shifted for the first time from the locally based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Call staff writer Teri Figueroa at 760-740-5442.
Ellie