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In Memoriam |
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In Memoriam |
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LCpl. Ryan McCurdy
B.R.-born Marine shot dead in Iraq
A Baton Rouge-born Marine was killed in Iraq last week, the Defense Department announced Monday.
Lance Cpl. Ryan S. McCurdy, 20, was shot Thursday "while conducting combat operations against enemy forces" in Fallujah, the Defense Department said.
McCurdy, who was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was among 11 U.S. service members who died Thursday during widespread violence.
His death brings to 49 the number of Louisianians serving in the U.S. armed forces who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a nonprofit group that tracks deaths and injuries in Iraq.
As of Monday, 2,209 U.S. troops had died in Iraq since the war began, according to the Defense Department.
In Baton Rouge, the regular chapel service at Christian Life Academy, where McCurdy graduated in 2004, became a memorial service.
"We're proud of what he stood for, but we're grieving one of our own," Principal Peter Barnes told students during the service.
McCurdy's mother, Janice McCurdy, is secretary to the pastor at Christian Life Church
McCurdy had been in Iraq since late summer, Barnes said. His older brother, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Grant McCurdy, is stationed in California.
Barnes described McCurdy as a happy-go-lucky student who was a second-team all-district catcher in baseball, a center on the football team and also a soccer player.
"I never saw him angry unless it was about a ball game," Barnes said. "He was passionate about sports."
In addition to his mother and brother, McCurdy's survivors include his father Stan McCurdy of Denham Springs and grandparents Elizabeth and Clifford Hanson of Minneapolis.