Three Marines killed in Al Anbar province
ABC News -- Three US Marines were killed as a result of "enemy action" in the troubled
Al Anbar province west of Baghdad the military said.
"Three marines assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force were killed yesterday as a result of enemy action in the Al Anbar Province," the military said in a statement.
"Two of the marines were killed in action; one marine died of wounds received in action on the same day," it said.
Iraqi guerrillas and US marines have fought in Fallujah overnight as an informal truce faltered, residents have said.
The sound of explosions and gunfire echoed from one area of Fallujah and US helicopters were overhead.
Iraqi fighters blamed US forces for breaking the truce.
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Lance Cpl Torrey L. Stoffel-Gray, USMC
IndyStar.com -- An Indianapolis Marine was killed in Iraq over the holiday weekend.
According to the Department of Defense, Marine Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Stoffel-Gray, 19, was one of two Marines killed on Easter Sunday, in Al Anbar Province. Stoffel-Gray served in Lima Company, 4th Marine Regiment and died from hostile fire.
According to WTHR-TV (Channel 13), The Star's newsgathering partner, Stoffel-Gray had been part of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and had returned to Iraq for another tour of duty two days before he was killed.
Stoffel-Gray's father, Jerome S. Gray, lives in Indianapolis, a spokesman for the Marines said. Stoffel-Gray's outfit was based in California.
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St Louis Post Dispatch -- A casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Torrey Stoffel-Gray, 19, of Patoka, Ill., arrived home from Iraq on Friday, and the Marine Corps said he will be buried with full military honors after his funeral Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Corps said a uniformed Marine will stand guard at the head and foot of Stoffel-Gray's casket throughout visitation from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Day Funeral Home at 101 East Clinton Avenue in Patoka.
She said the guard would be changed every 19 minutes, in memory of Stoffel-Gray's age. He was killed in action Sunday at Fallujah.
Stoffel-Gray's funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at First United Pentecostal Church in Patoka, under direction of its pastor, the Rev. James Bucy. Stoffel-Gray was active in the church, a friend of the Bucy family and even lived them for a short time in his teens.
Burial will be in Pratt Cemetery in Marion County, about six miles from Patoka. Marines will fire a seven-gun salute at the burial site.
No details about Stoffel-Gray's death have been disclosed.
The Marine spokeswoman said Stoffel-Gray has been awarded the Purple Heart, and it will be presented to his stepfather, Jerry Stoffel, who reared him.
Besides his stepfather, survivors include his mother, Mary Stoffel; and three brothers, Brandon, Russell and Blake.
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In the Associated Press photo at right, the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Torrey Stoffel-Gray, 19,
arrives at Pratt Cemetery, near rural Patoka, Illinois, by military caisson and trailed by a Marine Corps honor guard from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms.
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1st Lieutenant Oscar Jimenez, USMC
Aged 34, from San Diego. With the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, at Twentynine Palms, CA. Killed by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province.
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Pfc. George Torres, USMC
Aged 23, from Long Beach, California. With the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, CA. Killed by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province.
Long Beach Press Telegram -- As the sharp crack of seven rifles rang out three times for Final Honors, men and women wept Tuesday afternoon for fallen local hero Pfc. George Torres.
Close to 800 people filled the chapel at Forest Lawn Mortuary in North Long Beach to overflowing to pay their last respects to the 23-year-old Marine, believed to be Long Beach's first death in the war in Iraq. He had been fighting on the front lines in the province of Anbar, west of Baghdad, when he was wounded, and he subsequently died on Easter Sunday.
"George died a hero fighting for his country and for the liberty of the oppressed people of Iraq,' said close family friend Anna Garcia, her voice faltering as she was overcome with emotion.
Born in Harbor City, Torres grew up in Long Beach and in his parents' hometown of Urequio, in the Mexican state of Michoacan. He attended Emerson Elementary, Marshall Middle School and Millikan High School, although he left high school before graduating to move back to Mexico.
When he learned that he would need his degree to join the United States Marine Corps, he returned to Long Beach and earned his diploma through the School for Adults.
He signed up for the Corps in March 2003 at the downtown Long Beach recruitment center, and was first shipped out in early December to Japan. Many of the Marines at Tuesday's funeral service served in the same division as Torres, although those he served with on the battle lines remain in the Middle East.
One last letter
Torres and his unit had only been in Iraq for about a month when he was killed. His family had struggled with his being stationed in the war zone, and several days after they were notified of his death, they received a letter from him, explaining why he had to go to the Middle East.
"When I looked in the mailbox there was a letter from him,' one of his older sisters, Oralia Cisneros, said last week. "It's so hard to see. I'm sure we'll (appreciate it), but it hurt to see it.'
In the letter, Torres tried to calm his family's fears, particularly his mother's. Reading it to their mother made for an extremely bittersweet moment, said Olga Torres, the eldest of the six siblings.
"He taught us how brave he was and that he was never afraid, and that being a Marine is to go out of the country to keep terrorists away from our country here, so we can sleep comfortable,' she said.
Almost all of Torres' brothers and sisters spoke at his funeral Tuesday, sharing childhood memories and talking about his devotion to God and his country.
'Bravest of all'
"My brother was the baby of the family, but he was the bravest of all,' Olga Torres said shortly before the funeral began. "We're proud of him. We have a lot of love. He left us with a big emptiness, but a big pride. He was an awesome brother.'
A slide show flashed pictures of a toothy Torres in elementary school and at play with his sisters and brothers. Pictures of his high school graduation show him grinning in a royal blue cap and gown. Photos of him at his Marine Corps graduation, surrounded by his parents and other relatives, reveal a more composed expression.
"People would see him and say, 'He's your baby?" Cisneros said of her much younger brother, wiping away tears as she delivered her eulogy. "He was like my baby.'
There were so many mourners in and outside of the chapel that it took close to an hour for everyone to file past his flag-draped casket in one final viewing before they walked from the chapel to the interment site. Torres' mother, Genoveva Torres, sobbed heavily imploring God and calling for her son. On each arm was one of her daughters, with her husband and sons walking behind her.
A row of Marines in dress uniform carried the casket to its final resting place, giving it one last salute before it was positioned on the dais. Following the salute, the mournful notes of taps, played by a Marine Corps bugler, floated through the air.
"Marines never die,' said Pastor Enrique Cardonne. "Today, those words come to life.'
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Cpl. Daniel R. Amaya, USMC
Aged 22, from Odessa, Texas. With the 3rd Bat., 4th Marines, 1st Marine Div., I Mar. Exped. Force. Killed by hostile fire in Al Anbar Province.
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