LCpl. Daniel Chavez

Ex-Seattle man among 5 U.S. Marines killed

By PATRICK QUINN
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Militants killed five U.S. Marines on Thursday — including a graduate of Seattle's Garfield High school — and authorities found 21 bodies yesterday near the Syrian border, where American and Iraqi troops bore down in two recent major operations aimed at crushing a tenacious insurgency.

Early today, a car bomb exploded in a street in a Shiite area of Baghdad, killing 10 people and wounding 27, police and hospital officials said today.

The dead Marine, Lance Cpl. Daniel Chavez, 20, was a tank crewman with the II Marine Expeditionary Force. Chavez was born in Odessa, Texas. He joined the Marine Corps on July 14, 2003, and deployed to Iraq in March. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and the War on Terrorism Service Medal.

His family asked not to be contacted by reporters.