DoD Identifies Marine Casualty (#1942)

[leftchick]

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.



Pfc. Andrew D. Bedard, 19, of Missoula, Mont., died Oct. 4 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. Bedard was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).



Media with questions about this Marine can call the Twentynine Palms Public Affairs Office at 760-830-6213.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20051005-4851.html

[deadparrot]

1. RIP.

...

[Beaverhausen]

2. wonder if the news will even bother to report this

:cry:

[leftchick]

3. nope

I have not heard total number dead in Iraq on the evening news in ages.

:(

[just a girl]

4. Seems highly unlikely....

The country has become numb to the dead.
The media has fallen silent.

[soup]

5. 19 years old.

Andrew Bedard

>"He was just one of those guys who was pretty much friends with everybody,'' said Gaul, a journalism student at the University of Montana. "He was rarely ever down and just a fun kid to be around.''

Gaul spoke by telephone to Bedard in Iraq two weeks ago.

"He said it was pretty rough over there, with bombs falling around them all the time,'' Gaul said. "But he said it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be.''

Still, Bedard missed Montana badly. In fact, Bedard missed Montana, his friends and family so badly while he was in Marine basics that he'd drive all the way home from San Diego just to spend a day.

"We'd always say, man, that's a long way, but he'd always say it was worth it, even if it was just for a day,'' Gaul said.

No matter how much Gaul asked Bedard about the military and going off to war, Bedard always had a way of turning the conversation around.

"It always ended up with me talking about what's going on around here,'' Gaul said. "That's really what he cared about, his family and his friends.''
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/10/05/news/top/news01.txt

RIP :cry: