Posted on 06/27/2005 9:47:08 AM PDT by robowombat
CONVOY AMBUSHED: Rhode Island woman killed by suicide bomber in Iraq Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber and gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying female U.S. Marines in Fallujah, killing two Marines and leaving another four American troops presumed dead, the military said Friday.
At least one woman, a Marine from Rhode Island, was killed and 11 of 13 wounded were female.
The terror group al-Qaida in Iraq claimed it carried out the bombing, one of the single deadliest attacks against the Marines - and against women - in this country. The high number of female casualties spoke to the lack of any real front lines in Iraq, where U.S. troops are battling a raging insurgency and American women soldiers have taken part in more close-quarters combat than in any previous military conflict. The Defense Department identified the Rhode Island Marine as Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette, 21, of Cranston. Charette was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. She was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. Women do not serve in combat but female Marines are used at various checkpoints around the city to search Iraqi women in order to be sensitive to Muslim culture.
Charette was with a group of Marines returning to their base after a long day of duty, when the suicide car bomber struck the convoy. Then gunmen opened fire, killing a male Marine, the military said.
A story posted on the Marine Corps official Web site from May 3 said Charette had recently deployed to Al Anbar Province in Iraq from Camp Lejeune, where she worked delivering mail. Charette graduated in 2001 from Cranston High School East, the story said.
She said she had never thought about joining the Marines until college, when a recruiter was canvassing and showed her a video about boot camp.
"When I get out, I plan to applying to the U.S. Post Office," Charette said at the time. "It won't be the same as being a Marine, but at least I'm still in uniform."
Another four American troops were presumed dead in the Fallujah attack, the military said Friday. Eleven of 13 wounded were female.
The terror group al-Qaida in Iraq claimed it carried out the attack, one of the single deadliest against the Marines - and against women - in Iraq.
The male Marine's family identified him as Cpl. Chad Powell, 22, from northern Louisiana. Powell is survived by his parents, his wife and a 3-year-old son, Elijah.
Charette was the second military woman with Rhode Island ties to die in Iraq. Army CWO5 Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, killed in a helicopter crash in 2003 in Iraq, graduated from high school in Warwick. She was lead adviser to the Army's judge advocate general, and had lived in Virginia with her husband and 8-year-old son.
Charette is at least the seventh Rhode Island resident to die in Iraq.
Thirty-six female troops have died since the war began, including Charrette, said Maj. Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman. Thirty-four were Army, one Navy and one Marine
Actually a Marine was killed who happened to be a female.
An American Marine was killed. The Marine was a woman from state of Rhode Island.
That's a weird title - something special about Rhode Island - why was she singled out?
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