Marine Cpl. Felipe C. Barbosa

Died January 28, 2006 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of High Point, N.C.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Jan. 28 by a non-hostile vehicle accident in Fallujah, Iraq.

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N.C. Marine killed in Humvee accident in Iraq

HIGH POINT, N.C. — A Marine from North Carolina who became a U.S. citizen less than a year ago was killed in Iraq when the Humvee in which he was a passenger overturned, family members said.

The Marine Corps has not released details of the accident, which occurred Friday in the Anbar province.

The body of Cpl. Felipe Barbosa, 21, of High Point has been returned to Dover, Del., but plans for the funeral service haven’t been announced. He was an infantryman with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.

Family members, including his wife, Christina, 19, gathered Monday in High Point to remember Barbosa, who was born in Brazil. She had last spoken with her husband Jan. 23 by cell phone.

“We just talked a minute; they were having a sandstorm and the phone was breaking up. He said he was doing fine. He had told me not to worry about him; he was going to come back home; he wasn’t going to die,” said Christina Barbosa, who was married to her husband for 18 months.

Barbosa, who became a U.S. citizen in February 2005, had joined the Marines on Dec. 31, 2002. His interest in the Marines dated to his years in Brazil, where his father and grandfather had served in the military, said his mother, Iraci Dunbar of Greensboro. The family moved here in 1994.

He hoped to go to college and work as a foreign missionary when he finished his military service, his wife said.

— Associated Press

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Marine remembered as dedicated Christian

HIGH POINT, N.C. — A Marine from North Carolina who was killed in Iraq last month was remembered at his funeral service as a reverent, evangelical man who went on mission trips and went to Iraq with a similar attitude of service.

“He loved all human beings and he never wanted to hurt anybody,” said Cpl. Felipe Barbosa’s uncle, Dean Charlton.

Charlton said Barbosa, 21, had been an inspiration to him.

“It is burned in my mind: The last time I walked with him, he said ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m walking with Jesus,”’ Charlton said.

Barbosa died Jan. 28 when the Humvee he was riding in overturned. He was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment based at Camp Lejeune and had been in Iraq since September, said Barbosa’s friend, Alex Duarte.

Barbosa was born in Brazil and moved to the United States with his family in 1994. He had been married to his wife, Christina, for 18 months and had become a U.S. citizen about a year ago.

During the funeral service, songs such as Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to Be an American,” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”’ were played.

“He believed in the cause, but he knew there was a better way of doing things,” Duarte said.

Barbosa planned on becoming a Christian missionary when he finished his military service.

“Felipe was a follower of Christ with great distinction,” said the Rev. Marcus Campbell, Barbosa’s pastor at Conrad Memorial Baptist Church.

Campbell said Barbosa’s life should be celebrated as that of an outstanding Marine, a friend to many people, a loving family man and a dedicated Christian.

— Associated Press