darkblueworld's gallery : photos : Marines photos

"Photos courtesy U.S. Marine Corps"

Gallery pages: << < 51 52 53 54 55 56 >

< 484 of 496 >

darkblueworld > Marines photos > S Marines from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment conduct a patrol in Husaybah U S Marine Corps photo by Cpl Brian M Henner

darkblueworld > Marines photos > A U S Marine with Alpha Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5 provides security as fellow Marines conduct a patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, Oct 28, 2006

darkblueworld > Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Marines lose a friendly face from Whidbey Island
Highest-ranking woman to die in Iraq was public affairs officer

To journalists covering the war in Iraq, Marine Corps Major Megan Malia McClung was a professional yet friendly face, working hard as a public affairs officer to help them do their jobs.

Many of those same journalists now are writing about her after McClung, 34, who listed Coupeville on Whidbey Island as her hometown, died Wednesday in Iraq. She is apparently the highest-ranking woman of any branch of the service to die in Iraq.

Marine Lieutenant Colonel Bryan F. Salas, who helped pin on McClung's gold oak leaves when she was promoted to major in Iraq in June, said she is the only woman graduate of the Naval Academy to die in Iraq as a result of hostile action.

According to Defense Department statistics through December 2, 2006, 60 of the more than 2,900 U.S. military deaths in Iraq have been women.

She is the 146th member of the military with ties to Washington to die in Iraq.

In her job, McClung "was an advocate of media coverage of military operations," and managed the embed program in which reporters hook up with military units, developing public affairs plans for operations, Salas wrote by e-mail from Iraq.

Her death also numbed a community of marathoners. McClung, Salas said, also found time to organize the Marine Corps Marathon in Al Asad Airbase in October. She finished second among women.

The Defense Department in disclosing McClung's death Monday said she was killed in Al Anbar province supporting combat operations. Media and other military sources say she was killed in downtown Ramadi by a roadside bomb while doing her job -- escorting reporters.

She was in her last month in her Iraq deployment.

McClung's family declined to be interviewed, directing inquiries to Marine Corps officials. Funeral arrangements are incomplete but are planned for Arlington National Cemetery, Salas said from Iraq.

McClung's name has filled Google pages on the Web since her death, including notes from numerous journalists who appreciated her work.

Many cited her energy and professionalism -- and remembered a personality as bright as her red hair.

The Washington Post on October 27, 2006, reported that McClung in May came up with the idea for a marathon race in Iraq to parallel the popular Marine Corps Marathon held in Washington, D.C., each fall.

The Iraq "shadow race" was dubbed the Marine Corps Marathon Forward. Participants were considered part of the U.S. marathon, their finishes added to the list of those who completed the race in the U.S.

In an online endorsement for a joint-pain product, McClung said she had trained 20 years in gymnastics and later took up the Ironman Distance Triathlon.

McClung had been serving as public affairs officer for the Army's 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Her home unit was the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.

McClung, who was single, graduated in 1995 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She had been serving in Iraq since January.

darkblueworld > Marines photos > US Marines patrol a street in Al-Ramadi, in Iraq's al-Anbar province, in a US Marine Corps (USMC) handout photo

darkblueworld > Marines photos > US Marines run during a patrol after being targeted by small arms fire in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Baghad, November 25

darkblueworld > Marines photos > A US Marine monitors a street as his squad searches an abandoned house after being targeted by small arms fire in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Bagha

darkblueworld > Marines photos > An Iraqi civilian waves a white flag as he speaks to a US Marine and his interpreter in the restive city of Ramadi

darkblueworld > U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Joseph V. Poquiz, with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), conducts a patrol in Haqlaniyah, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brian M. Henner.

A US Marine monitors a street as his squad searches an abandoned house after being targeted by small arms fire in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Bagha

Marines photos > A US Marine monitors a street as his squad searches an abandoned house after being targeted by small arms fire in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Bagha

A US Marine monitors a street as his squad searches an abandoned house after being targeted by small arms fire in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Bagha

Other sizes: Small • M • L • O • save photo |

Share photo: links, forums, blogs |