Marine dies from wounds suffered in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Marine dies from wounds suffered in Afghanistan
Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Feb 10, 2009 18:32:01 EST

A North Carolina-based Marine died Saturday from injuries suffered two weeks earlier in Afghanistan, the Defense Department reported Tuesday.

Lance Cpl. Kevin T. Preach, 21, of Bridgewater, Mass., was gravely wounded Jan. 24 when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Farah province, according to media reports. A machine gunner, he was assigned to Camp Lejeune’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines.

Preach, who reportedly lost both legs and a hand in the attack, suffered severe burns and was being kept on life support at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, according to a report in the Boston Herald. His brother, Dan Preach — who is scheduled to graduate from boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., on Friday — flew to Texas to say goodbye just hours after completing the Crucible, the recruits’ 54-hour final exam, friends told The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Mass.

Wounded during his first combat deployment, Kevin Preach died shortly after his family left the hospital, the newspaper reported.

Brianna Kelliher, the Marine’s 18-year-old girlfriend, told the Herald that joining the Corps, which Preach did Oct. 29, 2007, was the realization of a boyhood dream. He was a gentleman, Kelliher told the newspaper, recalling how Preach flew home from Lejeune so he could take her to the senior prom.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/02/marine_afghan_fatality_021009w/%2e



uhc comment: To date six hundred forty eight American soldiers have been killed in the invasion and continued occupation of Afghanistan --> http://icasualties.org/oef/