thedrifter
04-22-08, 06:32 AM
US Marines honor 2 comrades killed in Afghanistan, first deaths since new deployment
AP -
By JASON STRAZIUSO,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 28 minutes ago
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan - More than 100 U.S. Marines stood at attention before four empty boots and two sets of dog tags Tuesday to honor the first Marines to die in Afghanistan since their unit's deployment last month.
1st Sgt. Luke J. Mercardante, 35, and Cpl. Kyle W. Wilks, 24, died in a roadside bomb explosion in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on April 15, said Lt. Col. Ricky Brown, the commander of Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina.
Dark, overcast skies, a blustery wind and light droplets of rain reflected the ceremony's mood. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tom Nagy, a medical officer attached to the Marine unit, read from a letter Mercardante wrote to his sister.
"I want no person to ever feel sad or pity for me or my Marines as we endure hardship and sacrifice, as this is our calling with the unknown outcome being that of God's master plan," Nagy quoted Mercardante as writing.
The attack came during the Marines' first movement outside NATO's main southern base at Kandahar and hit Mercardante, the battalion's top noncommissioned officer, Brown said.
"It was our first convoy outside the gate, and everyone looked up to 1st Sgt. Mercardante. Short of Col. Brown, it couldn't have hit anyone more dear to the unit," Nagy said after the ceremony.
Roadside and suicide bomb attacks have spiked in the last several years, as Taliban insurgents increase the use of what military officials call "asymmetric" attacks. In late 2006, the Taliban suffered hundreds of casualties in major battles in Panjwayi _ where the roadside bomb went off _ and have avoided force-on-force confrontations ever since.
The two deaths bring to 18 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Last year, 111 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan. About 3,500 Marines were deployed to Afghanistan last month to help the 40-nation mission battle the Taliban insurgency. The U.S. now has 32,000 troops in the country.
Mercardante, of Athens, Georgia, and Wilks, of Rogers, Arkansas, were riding in a Humvee, the fourth vehicle of a 36-vehicle convoy, Brown said. A militant monitoring the main highway set the device off, he said.
Ellie
AP -
By JASON STRAZIUSO,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 28 minutes ago
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan - More than 100 U.S. Marines stood at attention before four empty boots and two sets of dog tags Tuesday to honor the first Marines to die in Afghanistan since their unit's deployment last month.
1st Sgt. Luke J. Mercardante, 35, and Cpl. Kyle W. Wilks, 24, died in a roadside bomb explosion in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on April 15, said Lt. Col. Ricky Brown, the commander of Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina.
Dark, overcast skies, a blustery wind and light droplets of rain reflected the ceremony's mood. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tom Nagy, a medical officer attached to the Marine unit, read from a letter Mercardante wrote to his sister.
"I want no person to ever feel sad or pity for me or my Marines as we endure hardship and sacrifice, as this is our calling with the unknown outcome being that of God's master plan," Nagy quoted Mercardante as writing.
The attack came during the Marines' first movement outside NATO's main southern base at Kandahar and hit Mercardante, the battalion's top noncommissioned officer, Brown said.
"It was our first convoy outside the gate, and everyone looked up to 1st Sgt. Mercardante. Short of Col. Brown, it couldn't have hit anyone more dear to the unit," Nagy said after the ceremony.
Roadside and suicide bomb attacks have spiked in the last several years, as Taliban insurgents increase the use of what military officials call "asymmetric" attacks. In late 2006, the Taliban suffered hundreds of casualties in major battles in Panjwayi _ where the roadside bomb went off _ and have avoided force-on-force confrontations ever since.
The two deaths bring to 18 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Last year, 111 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan. About 3,500 Marines were deployed to Afghanistan last month to help the 40-nation mission battle the Taliban insurgency. The U.S. now has 32,000 troops in the country.
Mercardante, of Athens, Georgia, and Wilks, of Rogers, Arkansas, were riding in a Humvee, the fourth vehicle of a 36-vehicle convoy, Brown said. A militant monitoring the main highway set the device off, he said.
Ellie