Cpl. Nathan Schubert

(reprinted from MercuryNews.com, January 29, 2005)

Iowa Marine killed in helicopter crash

CHEROKEE, Iowa - A soldier from Iowa was among the 31 U.S. servicemen killed in Wednesday's crash of a Marine Corps helicopter in western Iraq, relatives said.

Marine Cpl. Nathan Schubert, of Cherokee, had received orders to leave Iraq on Feb. 4, his uncle, Dan Winklepleck, 45, of Sioux Falls, S.D., told The Associated Press on Friday.

"His duty as far as battle duty and combat duty was done," Winklepleck said.

Schubert died the day before his 23rd birthday, he said.

His family was gathering in Sioux Falls, where Schubert's mother also lives.

Winklepleck said his nephew, who loved to hunt and fish, joined the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"He went to college in Cedar Rapids for one year then joined the Marines after 9/11," he said.

Nathan Schubert was among 27 soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, who died in the crash, which happened during a desert sandstorm near the border with Jordan.

The CH-53E Super Stallion was carrying personnel from the 1st Marine Division on a security mission in support of Sunday's election.

It was the single deadliest event for the American military in Iraq since the United States invaded that country in March 2003, and it was the largest number of Marines to die in a single event since the terrorist bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in October 1983.

"I feel sorry for all the other families that were involved with the kids on the helicopter, you know," Winklepleck said.

Schubert's brother, Matt Schubert, said he was a carefree man who "lived a day for what it was worth," his older brother said as he gathered with relatives at his mother's home in Sioux Falls.

"He was kind of a patriotic person and I think he felt it was his duty to serve the country," Schubert, of Spencer, told the Sioux City Journal Thursday night.

Cherokee Mayor Dennis Henrich said flags in Cherokee in northwestern Iowa were lowered to half staff. The mayor said Schubert's death is the first military casualty for the city of 5,300 since the Vietnam War.

Matt Schubert talked with his younger brother last Friday. Nathan said in that conversation he had received his orders to leave Iraq on Feb. 4. He was excited to leave and come home, Matt Schubert said.

Nathan Schubert was a 2001 graduate of Washington High School in Cherokee. His brother said memorial services will be held at the school. A date has not been set.

In November, Nathan Schubert had plans to return to Iowa. The two brothers were going to spend time working on an old Jeep Nathan had bought.

"He was just the kind of person that would be everybody's best friend," Matt Schubert said.