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   Drowned Marines in full gear

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Tinkerbell
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Drowned Marines in full gear
« on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 8:44am »

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March 27, 2003

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Two Marines drowned in southern Iraq after attempting to cross a canal without a safety line while wearing heavy gear and rifles, The Washington Times has learned.
The Marines were identified by the Pentagon as Cpl. Evan James, 20, of Hancock, Ill., and Sgt. Bradley Korthaus, 28, of Scott, Iowa. Both were part of a Marine Corps Reserve engineer company in Peoria, Ill.
A spokesman for the Naval & Marine Corps Reserve Center in Peoria said Sgt. Korthaus worked as a plumber and Cpl. James was a lifeguard and student.
The spokesman said the company commander, Maj. Mike McCarthy, helped in the search for the two Marines.
Marine Corps Maj. Matt McLoughlin, another spokesman, said both men went under the water while attempting to swim across the Saddam Canal in southern Iraq on Monday.
In a statement, the Marine Corps said: "For unclear reasons, four Marines were crossing the Saddam Canal. Two of the Marines made it across, and according to witnesses, two other Marines went under water and have yet to be found."
"What we understand is that these Marines were crossing the Saddam Canal, and that somehow they fell in the canal, went underwater and have yet to be located," Maj. McLoughlin said.
However, J.M. Eddins Jr., a photographer for The Washington Times assigned to a Marine Corps supply unit in Iraq, said the men were sent across the canal without taking the precaution of removing their heavy equipment or rifles.
Also, the men were not tied to a rope or cable that could have been used to pull them out, he said.
"These two guys went into the water with full camouflage gear and rifles and they sank to the bottom like a rock," said Mr. Eddins, who was on the scene shortly after the Marines disappeared and spoke to Marines in the area.
"Everyone is really [angry] about this. It was just a needless tragic accident," he said.
One observer in Iraq said the Marines were ordered into the canal by a reserve major in charge of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion.
The Marines were at the canal, which runs parallel to the Euphrates River, to build a crossing and set up a water-purification facility for the First Marine Expeditionary Force troops that have been driving toward Baghdad.
The exact location of the incident was not identified for security reasons.
The Marines were sent to the other side of the canal to provide security against any Iraqi soldiers or irregulars who might be hiding behind a large berm on the opposite side.
After the Marines disappeared, other Marines stripped down to their shorts and went into the water without equipment in a frantic search. They wore floatation devices attached to their bodies with ropes. Other Marines lined up along the canal trying to locate the missing men.
Two Marine CH-47 helicopters also were called in to help with the search.
Asked about reports that one or both of the bodies had been recovered, a Marine Corps spokesman said the status of the men as missing had not changed as of last night.
The Marines have classified the men as "duty status whereabouts unknown," a status different than missing in action.
The Pentagon said in a statement released yesterday that Cpl. James and Sgt. Korthaus "were among a group of Marines in the vicinity of the Saddam Canal in Iraq on March 24.
"A search and rescue effort to locate the Marines is continuing," the statement said, without providing any further details.

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Tinkerbell
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #1 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 8:49am »

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I know it is war and things DO happen......accidents, friendly fire....but these 2 deaths seem completely avoidable. I do not know how anyone would think you would still float with all that heavy gear on. The article said they sank like a rock. I am sure that there is some sort of training with swimming with your gear on ......maybe it is meant for short distances only Huh

These 2 men died for no good reason. IMHO. Very sad for the families i am sure.

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Rhune
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #2 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 9:43am »

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*makes frustrated noises and faces, stomps foot*

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Addams
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #3 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 10:56am »

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Addams is doing the same thing as Rhune. Tears and prayers for their families.

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Tinkerbell
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #4 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 6:30pm »

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Captain: Drowned Marines met swimming standards
Commander defers reports of improper tethering, heavy gear until investigation completed

March 29, 2003

By ANDY KRAVETZ
of the Journal Star

PEORIA - While an investigation continues into this week's drowning deaths of two Peoria-based Marine Corps reservists in Iraq, a commander from their unit here said both met or exceeded the Marines' water safety requirements.

Capt. John Bruzza said such a rating meant Cpl. Evan James, 20, of LaHarpe and Sgt. Bradley Korthaus, 28, of Davenport, Iowa, had been tested on their ability to swim while carrying their rifles and wearing their uniforms, packs and helmets.

In fact, James, who had worked as a lifeguard and competed in triathlons, had the highest non-instructor rating issued by the Corps, Bruzza said.

"The gunnery sergeant . . . said he was our best swimmer, by far, so it's kind of taken us by shock," said James' mother, Donna James, noting fatigue and dehydration may have been factors in the drowning.

The two Marines, from Company C of the 6th Engineering Support Battalion, disappeared Monday in the Saddam Canal in southeast Iraq while swimming across the waterway with two other Marines from their unit who safely reached the other side.

"I am not sure if they had a safety line or other safety measures in place, and we wouldn't know until after the investigation," the captain said. "No one in the Marine Corps is going to say anything until the investigation is completed. Once it is complete and released, then the facts will be known and commented on."

Bruzza said reports from a Washington Times photographer traveling with Company C that suggested proper safety procedures weren't used were "unsubstantiated."

In the Times' Thursday edition, photographer J.M. Eddins Jr. reported the men were sent across the canal without removing their heavy gear or rifles. The photographer also said the men weren't connected to a safety rope or cable to pull them out if need be.

Another journalist, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reported other Marines jumped into the water to look for the missing men, and helicopters assisted in the search.

James' body was recovered Tuesday, and Korthaus' body was found Wednesday. Bruzza said he expected both men's bodies to be in the United States within a week to 10 days.

The two men were swimming across the channel to set up a security post for a water-purification facility.

"If they cross in just shorts and T-shirts, then they would not be very combat-effective as a security point on the far side," the captain said. "They needed to cross with their equipment to be combat-effective."

The exact details of what happened were still unclear, including the type of channel the men were crossing. Bruzza said the water was "relatively slow-moving" while a spokeswomen for the U.S. Marine Reserve in New Orleans noted the water "swift-moving."

Regardless, Bruzza noted it was difficult to get a handle on what should or should not have been done without having been there.

"Sitting here in Peoria, I can't see the ground and the situation that the commander on the scene saw at the time," he said. "There are numerous ways to accomplish this mission, and it's really difficult to see what other options could have been explored without knowing what was going on at the time."

Donna James said her son wrote in a March 3 letter that he had lost 20 to 30 pounds since being deployed to the Middle East.

"He said they had been really busy and it was tough to do even 50 push-ups," she said.

Bradley Korthaus also was described as a strong swimmer. Korthaus' father, Steve, said his son probably stepped forward for the mission.

"Knowing Bradley, he volunteered," said Steve Korthaus, 54 and a Vietnam War veteran.

Bruzza said the company was taking the loss of the two men he described as "gung-ho Marines" hard.

"I haven't been able to talk to anyone there, but we are feeling pretty well tore up here," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

March 31, 2003

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Tinkerbell
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #5 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 6:35pm »

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Cpl. Evan James

SIUE student marine dies in Iraq
The mother of an SIUE student who died in Iraq this week urged the SIUE community to remember all American soldiers in their prayers.

"Keep all our soldiers in your prayers," Donna James said Wednesday, fighting back tears.

Marine Cpl. Evan James, a 20-year-old sophomore from LaHarpe, drowned while crossing the Saddam Canal in southeastern Iraq Monday.

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Tinkerbell
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Re: Drowned Marines in full gear
« Reply #6 on: Mar 31^st, 2003, 6:38pm »

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Marine Sgt. Bradley Korthaus, 29, of Davenport, Iowa, is shown in this undated family handout photo. Korthaus died Tuesday, March 24, 2003, while trying to cross the Saddam Canal in southeastern Iraq, a military official said Tuesday, March 25, 2003.

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