Posted on 03/27/2003 12:39:00 AM PST by Keith in Iowa
Davenport, Ia. - A Marine Corps spokesman confirmed late Wednesday that the body of a missing Marine from Davenport had been found.
Sgt. Bradley Korthaus, 28, disappeared Monday in the Saddam Canal in southeast Iraq while swimming across the waterway with three other Marines from his Peoria, Ill.-based engineering unit. Two made it across.
Korthaus and Cpl. Evan James of La Harpe, Ill., drowned. Korthaus is the first Iowan to die in Iraq during the current Persian Gulf conflict.
Korthaus' family was notified by the Marine Corps late Wednesday of his death.
A friend said the family was grieving. Relatives declined to say anything further Wednesday night.
Korthaus and the other Marines were trying to set up weapons on the opposite side of the canal to provide cover for a water-purification team, Berg said.
Two emerged on the other side of the canal, but Korthaus and James, 20, were swept under the surface. The body of James, who also drowned, was found Tuesday, but Korthaus remained missing until Wednesday afternoon, Berg said.
Steve Korthaus, a Vietnam War veteran, said Tuesday that his son joined the Marines immediately after graduating from Davenport Assumption High School in 1992.
Earlier Wednesday, Marilyn Korthaus said she was having difficulty keeping hope that her son would be found alive."I don't know what to think at this point," she said about 3:30 p.m., just a few hours before learning of his death. "I want to be hopeful, but it's hard because it has been awhile since we have heard anything."
A steady stream of friends came to the Korthaus' home Wednesday.
Bradley Korthaus' fiancee, Barbi Schneckloth, said earlier this week that the two had decided to marry as soon as Korthaus returned.
Korthaus and James were combat engineers with Company C, 6th Engineer Support Battalion of the Marine Corps Reserve in Peoria, Ill.
Somewhere near the middle of the Saddam Canal, the water depth dropped to between 10 and 15 feet, and that is where Korthaus and James disappeared, Berg said."It's possible there was a strong undercurrent, but we just don't know yet," he said.
The men were not under hostile fire, military officials said.
Our State has alot of its sons and daughters over there, and has the support and prayers of all of us.
This was demonstrated vividly at Saturday's Rally for America on the Capitol steps:
The highlight of the gathering was when several dozen families of active-duty personnel shared stories about their loved ones with those assembled. It was unforgetable, and takes on a new poignancy with this news:
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