In Memoriam

Culloden Marine killed in Iraq

From staff and wire

HUNTINGTON -- Cpl. William B. Fulks, 23, of Culloden, W.Va., died Thursday, the Defense Department said Friday. He died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, from wounds he suffered in combat in Anbar province on May 1, the Pentagon said.

Fulks was assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C. A division spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking further information late Friday.

According to his family's Web site, Fulks was airlifted to Baghdad after the incident, then to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany before being stabilized and airlifted to Brooke.

"We all respect and appreciate his service to our county and his heroism in taking on his portion of the responsibility of protecting our country in the War on Terror and the freedom of the Iraqi people," his father, Billy Fulks, says on the Web site www.forbrad.com before his death.

Those who wish to help cover Fulks' medical expenses and his family's travel expenses can make checks payable to the William Bradley Fulks Benefit, in care of City National Bank's Teays Valley Branch, 100 Poplar Fork Road, P.O. Box 250, Scott Depot, WV 25560.

For more information on the fund, call (304) 757-4004.

Meanwhile, two soldiers killed in Iraq on Sunday were members of a Fort Bragg unit, the Army post said Friday.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 John W. Engeman, 45, and Master Sgt. Robert H. West, 37, of Elyria, Ohio, were killed in Baghdad when a bomb detonated near their Humvee. Both were assigned to 1st Battalion, 312th Regiment, 4th Brigade, 78th Division at Fort Bragg.

The Pentagon said Engeman's home town was East North Port, N.Y. He moved two years ago to West Virginia, where he served as an active duty liaison between the National Guard and Army reserves, said his wife, Donna.

Engeman and West were trainers who went to Iraq in February. Engeman was married and a father of two. West was married and a father of one.

Engeman was killed one day after watching his wife graduate from Concord University in West Virginia via an Internet feed, Donna Engeman said.

"For him to be able to see me graduate was really special. He told me afterward that I looked great," she told the Long Island, N.Y., newspaper Newsday. "Then he said, 'I'll call you tomorrow for Mother's Day."'

Engeman was killed before he could make the call.

West returned to Iraq for a second tour of duty against his family's wishes to train Iraqi police officers, his aunt, Bonnie Shreve said. West felt he had the experience to train Iraqis better than younger soldiers, she told The Chronicle-Telegram of Elyria.

"He wasn't afraid," aunt Nora Hudson said. "He said, 'I'm a trained professional, it'll be all right.' "