IGX

I lost a great Marine this weekend. On Saturday he was swimming with three buddies at Emerald Isle beach in North Carolina. He got taken by the rip, was pulled out, and drowned. At one point, two of his buddies had their hands on him, but the rip tore them apart.

Joseph was a junior Marine, but had the earmarks of a leader. I had designated him as an assistant patrol leader for our upcoming Afghanistan deployment. He was fit, knowledgable, and cocky. All of the junior Marines wanted to be him, and the senior Marines respected the professionalism that Joseph displayed as a 19 year old Lance Corporal. The platoon is devastated. It's one thing to lose a Marine in combat, but its something different to lose a kid with such promise over an accident.

I'm pretty fucked up about it.

Always hard to lose a good man, specially in such a freak accident.

RIP

Sorry to hear about that.

Damn that sucks. RIP.

Damn damn. Sorry to hear about this brother. Time will heal things and you will all become tighter and stronger because of it.

Damn. Sorry for the loss.

RIP. Very sorry to hear this.

That's a heartbreaking loss. It must be especially crushing for the guys who were with him. May he rest in peace.

RIP. For those of you that don't know, I offer this:

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/08/19/ho ... a-riptide/

Sorry for your loss Rotten. My condolences to you and his family.
RIP.

Condolences. Rips are scary. Awful loss of life. His buddies there will be traumatised by that. Good thoughts to all left behind.

Thanks for acknowledging him here.

RIP to Corporal Joseph and peace to all those who mourn him.

R.I.P. That is tragic.

That's a good reminder Fats. I and two friends got caught in rip in mexico, it was terrifying at first and then shockingly easy to get out of if you just swam slowly parallel to shore.

Sorry for the loss of your man. Our best to his friends and family.

Good post, Fats. That's a lifesaver. I got caught in a rip once and was fortunate my dad had given me good advice.

I sink like a rock so open water freaks me out.

RIP, Marine.

RIP & Semper Fi, to your young hard charger. I have swam Emerald Isle myself as I am sure at least a few here have.

RE: to Fat's post....a very important piece of knowledge to remember and share with loved ones.

Appreciate the kind words. The hero in this awful story has been the Marine's mother. Her poise, courage, and wisdom have been a rock for us mush-headed jarheads. The other heroes have been my NCOs and SNCOs. Their performance in kee ping the Marines sane, focused, and on-mission have solidified my belief that I have been blessed with leaders that I've got. They humble me daily.

Six of us will head down for funeral honors this weekend.