Cpl. John Todd, U.S.M.C (KIA)

Bomb kills Marine from Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT - A 24-year-old Marine from Bridgeport, Cpl. John Todd III, was killed Tuesday in Iraq along with two other Marines when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee.

Two other Marines in the convoy were wounded in the bombing attack about 10 a.m. in eastern Baghdad, according to The Associated Press. The convoy was traveling on a four-lane highway when the explosion occurred.

Todd, Sgt. Alan Sherman, 25, of Wanamassa, N.J., and Lance Cpl. Patrick Adle, 21, of Belair, Md., all belonged to the 6th Engineer Support Battalion's Bridge Company B, a reserve unit based in Folsom, Pa.

The attack was the first after U.S. forces turned over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.

Marine Corp. representatives came to John and Carol Todd's Prospect Avenue home late Tuesday afternoon with the devastating news of their son's death.

On Wednesday, the parents were in seclusion. Relatives of Todd's, including his 19-year-old brother and 23-year-old sister, Katie Frazer, talked to other mourners on the sidewalk in front of the Todd home.

Family spokeswoman Kay Shinners, the Marine's aunt, fielded telephone calls most of the day. She said her nephew, who joined the Marines four years ago, was serving his second deployment in Iraq.

"We would like to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers," she said, reading from a prepared statement, and expressed sympathy to the families of the other Marines who were killed Tuesday.

The corporal and his young bride, Colleen, were married in January just days before Todd left for Iraq.

"John got married three days before he left," Shinners said.

Shinners, of Conshohocken, said she spoke with her nephew about twice a month from Iraq. When Marines were attacked in the past, Todd always called to reassure the family that he wasn't harmed.

"He always got to the phone if something happened," she said. "He always said 'don't worry.'"

Todd echoed the same sentiment to his aunt about three weeks ago, the last time she spoke to him. He was scheduled to return home in September.

A 1998 graduate of Upper Merion Area High School, Shinners said Todd was a gung-ho Marine who believed "wholeheartedly" in his mission to rebuild the war-torn country.

"He was very dedicated to being a Marine," she said. "He thought it was something he had to do."

Since her nephew's deployments, Shinners has become more sensitive to criticism of the U.S. military's role in Iraq.

"The people here that are critical really bother me," she said. "People really need to support the troops."

The family is planning a full military funeral for Todd.

"I'm waiting for his father-in-law to bring over his dress blues," Shinners said.