In Memoriam

Home

LCpl. Clifford Collinsworth
LCpl. Nicholas Manoukian

(reprinted from DetNews.com, October 24, 2006)

Deaths in what is turning out to be one of the deadliest months for U.S. soldiers in Iraq have hit home for two Michigan families.

Lance Cpl. Clifford R. Collinsworth, 20, of Chelsea and Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Manoukian, 22, of Lathrup Village died Saturday in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

Both were assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Manoukian, born Aug. 31, 1984, in Westland, attended Southfield Christian School and Shrine High School in Royal Oak.

He later transferred to Kimball High School in Royal Oak, where he graduated in 2003.

An avid snowboarder and hockey player, Manoukian often drew and sketched, which led him to pursue a designing career.

After taking art classes at Oakland University, he joined the Marines in June 2004.

Training at Parris Island, S.C., and later at the Marines base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., Manoukian enjoyed "doing something to be proud of," said his mother, Mary Manoukian Calhoun. "He had the need to challenge himself. … He liked being part of a brotherhood."

In March 2005 he was deployed to Fallujah, where he served as a radio operator.

Manoukian returned home that October and quickly resumed practicing on his prized Pearl drum set.

On July 8, Manoukian married his longtime girlfriend, Danielle Mullen, at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Royal Oak.

He returned to Iraq last month for his second deployment.

Besides his wife and mother, survivors include his stepfather, Gary Calhoun, and a stepson, Nico Mullen.