Frederick-based Marine shot twice in Iraq; Leesburg, Va., resident expected to make full recovery from injuries sustained during combat
FREDERICK -- A Marine in a Frederick-based unit deployed to Iraq on Oct. 11 was shot twice earlier this week but is expected to make a full recovery, a unit spokesman said Friday.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=53502
Published on October 28, 2006
By Alison Walker-Baird
News-Post Staff
Lance Cpl. Christopher Charette, 22, of Leesburg, Va., was shot in the left shoulder and left hand Monday evening while conducting combat operations against anti-Iraqi forces in the Al Anbar province, Capt. Christian Devine said. This is the first injury reported among the unit.
Cpl. Charette was transported to Al Asad Surgical Hospital early Tuesday to be treated and stabilized. He was transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for three days of medical care.
He arrived at Bethesda Naval Medical Center on Friday, where he will recover from his injuries. Members of Cpl. Charette's family, who could not be reached Friday, met him at the Bethesda hospital, Capt. Devine said.
Cpl. Charette's injuries will not require amputation but he is not expected to rejoin his unit in Iraq, Capt. Devine said.
The 110-member Dam Support Unit 3 is expected to remain in Iraq for seven months. DSU-3, a reserve unit, is part of Regimental Combat Team-7 in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Cpl. Charette joined the Marine Corps in July 2003.
The unit, previously Bravo Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, is based at the Pfc. Flair U.S. Army Reserve Center at Fort Detrick. A dozen members are staying at the Frederick reserve center to provide support for the unit.
Most of the unit's members are patrolling and securing Iraqi waterways throughout Haditha and the Euphrates River Valley. Several are conducting security operations in Ramadi, the Iraq city west of Baghdad that is the capital of the Al Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency.
The all-male unit flew to Iraq from Cherry Point, N.C., earlier this month after leaving the reserve center Sept. 25 to complete administrative preparations.
The Marines, who were activated May 31, completed several months of training this summer in Camp Lejeune, N.C., in boat operations, urban patrolling and security operations.
As of Friday, 96 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month, making October the deadliest month in a year. More than one-third of the U.S. deaths in October have occurred in Al Anbar.
Since the beginning of the war in March 2003, at least 2,809 members of the U.S. military have died, according to an Associated Press count.