Florida Marine Dies After Car Bomb Explodes In Iraq

LEESBURG, Fla. -- A Marine from central Florida who told his brother he always wanted to be there for his family was killed in Iraq, just days before his 30th birthday, officials said.

Staff Sgt. Michael J. Clark, of Leesburg, was killed in Anbar Province on Tuesday, the Department of Defense said. Anbar is a Sunni-dominated expanse of western Iraq that includes the embattled cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, and a portion of the Syrian border area.

Clark approached a suspicious vehicle and it detonated, killing him, said his brother, Robert Clark.

He leaves behind a wife, Sarah, and two daughters, Victoria, 6, and Emily, 4.

Robert Clark remembered his brother saying, "I want to always be there for them."

Michael Clark had served one tour of duty in Iraq and didn't really want to return, but he decided he would rather fight enemy forces abroad than have them come to America, said his stepfather, Richard Lester.

Clark had completed anti-terrorist training, earned a degree in criminal psychology and been interviewed for the U.S. Secret Service before re-enlisting in the Marines, his brother said.

"He just loved anything with danger," Robert Clark told The Daily Commercial of Leesburg. "He wanted to beat the odds."

Clark, an 11-year veteran of the Corps and a bomb disposal expert, was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion 1, Combat Service Support Group 11, 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Since joining the Marines in 1993, Clark had been awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat "V," the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

More than 900 American troops have died since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003.