DOD IDENTIFIES MARINE CASUALTIES

May 21, 2003

The Department of Defense announced today that Cpl. Douglas Jose Marencoreyes, 28, of Chino, Calif., was killed May 18 in Iraq, when the large transport truck he was riding in rolled over approximately 30 km southeast of Al Samawah. Marencoreyes was a reservist assigned to the Light Armored Vehicle – Air Defense Battery, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif. The incident is under investigation. 

The Department of Defense also announced that Sgt. Kirk Allen Straseskie, 23, of Beaver Dam, Wis., drowned May 19 in a canal near Al Hillah, Iraq, when he attempted to rescue the crewmembers of a Marine CH-46 helicopter that went down in the canal. Straseskie was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton, Calif.