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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Marine Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson
Died April 2, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
20, of Rochester, Minn.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; died April 2 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Hundreds remember Marine at vigil
The Associated Press
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A giant American flag fluttered from a fire truck ladder as hundreds of people honored a Marine from Rochester who died in Afghanistan.
The family of Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson sat in the front row at the April 8 candlelight vigil.
The Post-Bulletin of Rochester reported that it was a somber ceremony attended by families, teenagers, gray-haired veterans and baby-faced Boy Scouts.
The ceremony came a week after the Humvee in which Swenson was riding hit a roadside bomb that flipped the vehicle, killing the 20-year-old Mayo High School graduate.
Enjoyed spending time outdoors
The Associated Press
At Bethel Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn., Curtis Swenson is remembered as a “quiet leader” and a good listener who befriended younger kids in the youth group.
Swenson was active in that group and enjoyed the outdoors — hunting, camping, fishing and skiing. He also was one of the Bethel Believers, the church softball team for which he had belted a grand slam in his last performance, along with another homer.
“If he was around friends, he always had a good sense of humor and was able to make a lot of people laugh,” Bethel youth director Michael Beckmann said.
Swenson, 20, of Rochester was killed by an explosive device April 2 in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and had served in Iraq in 2008.
Friends posting on a Facebook page said they had admired Swenson as a man and as a Marine.
He had enlisted in 2007, the year he graduated from Rochester Mayo High School. In class, Swenson was well-liked and a good student, Principal Tim Dorway said.
Survivors include his wife, Katie; parents, Dave and Kay Swenson; and his younger sister, Emily.