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thedrifter
05-20-04, 06:49 AM
Dustin H. Schrage




UNION-TRIBUNE
May 18, 2004

Numb from the news that her Marine son, Cpl. Dustin Schrage, had died in Iraq during a risky mission, Nina Schrage thumbed through a baby book she had pulled from the closet.

On one page there was the note that the name Dustin meant "victorious spirit."

"That says it all about him," Schrage said.

Her 20-year-old son died May 6 in Anbar province during a covert operation to cross the Euphrates River, Schrage said she was told by the Marine Corps.

Schrage, of Brevard, Fla., had been in Iraq since February as part of Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. That he died during a dangerous mission to swim across the river doesn't surprise his mother.

"He was a brave soul," she said.

Schrage signed up for the Marines while he was still a senior in high school. And it was during boot camp that his swimming skills set him apart.

From there he got special training as a swimmer. He was one of six Marines assigned to cross the Euphrates, his mother said.

Schrage and another Marine didn't make it. Their deaths are under investigation by the Marine Corps.

Schrage earned respect from his commanding officers and the Marines in his squad. E-mails from Dustin's buddies and superiors have flooded the Schrages' computer since his death.

"In the last five months your son has been nothing but a great role model for me," one Marine wrote. "Not only was he a great Marine but also a great person."

The e-mails all have the same theme: Dustin was a leader, someone who could be counted on to do his job, Schrage said.

He was ramrod-serious about his role as a Marine. But he wasn't always that way, his mother remembered with a little laugh.

"He was always the class clown in school," she said. "He definitely marched to a different drum. We worried about him sometimes that he lacked focus." But that changed when he enlisted.

"He got serious about life," she said. "Words cannot describe the person he'd become."
– David Hasemyer


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/memorial/20040518-9999-1m18schrage.html


Ellie


Rest In Peace

DSchmitke
05-20-04, 07:30 AM
Rest In Peace My Brother

cjwright90
05-20-04, 08:34 AM
A prayer for him and his family leaves my lips today.