Marine Cpl. Donte J. Whitworth

Died February 28, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Noblesville, Ind.; assigned to Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.; died Feb. 28 in Taqaddum, Iraq, in a non-hostile vehicle accident.

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Family members remember fallen Marine

The timing of Cpl. Donte J. Whitworth’s death was particularly cruel: He was to come home soon and had sent ahead his duffel bag.

“I’ll go through it later, when I’m ready,” said his mother, Carla Plowden, who retired after 20 years with the Marines shortly before her son enlisted.

Whitworth, 21, of Noblesville, Ind., died Feb. 28 after a vehicle accident near Al Taquddum Air Base. He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Yuma, Ariz.

Whitworth commanded supply convoys hauling a variety of goods between U.S. military bases in Iraq. He was long familiar with heavy equipment, having grown up on a farm outside Noblesville.

Whitworth lavished attention on his three pre-adolescent nephews, and they adored him for it. He could be the contrarian, too.

“If I was for the Colts, he’d be for the next team,” said Bob Williams, his grandfather. “If I’d be for the Democrat, he’d be for the Republican. He liked to argue. I’m sure he didn’t really feel that way, but he just liked to argue and make you take time to figure out what you were thinking and why.”

He also is survived by his father, Daniel Whitworth and stepfather, Kerry McGee.