Marine Cpl. William C. Comstock

Died April 22, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Van Buren, Ark.; assigned to 2nd Supply Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, of Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 22 in Anbar province, Iraq, in a nonhostile incident.

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Received multiple commendations

The Associated Press

VAN BUREN, Ark. — The Defense Department says a 21-year-old Marine from Van Buren has died after a “non-hostile incident” in Iraq.

Officials say Cpl. William C. Comstock died April 22 in Iraq’s Anbar province. Comstock was assigned to the 2nd Supply Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, of Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Defense Department says Comstock’s death remains under investigation.

His remains arrived April 22 at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

According to the Southwest Times Record newspaper at Fort Smith, decorations awarded to Comstock include the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

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Ark. Marine remembered as unique

The Associated Press

FORT SMITH, Ark. — An Arkansas Marine who died in Iraq overcame living in a series of foster home and excelled as a student athlete in his short, but unique life, friends say.

Cpl. William Craig Comstock, 21, died after what the Defense Department described as a “non-hostile incident” in Iraq’s Anbar province. Comstock’s father, Steve Comstock, said he received word Monday of his son’s grave injury.

He said within hours, the Marines had sent him on the beginning of a 15,000-mile succession of jet flights that brought him to Germany, where his son, on life support, had already been airlifted.

He gave consent to discontinue that support Wednesday.

“Rather than focus on the size of the bullet, I think we should be talking about his contribution to his country,” Comstock’s father told the Southwest Times Record. “I think that is much more important than the gory aspects of his death. He needs to be honored, not exploited.”

Comstock was assigned to the 2nd Supply Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force of Camp Lejeune, N.C. The trip to Iraq was Comstock’s second. His father said he was wounded in action about a year earlier, shot in the knee. He earned a Purple Heart. When he recovered, he volunteered for a second tour.

“He was the perfect Marine,” said Janet Parmenter. Parmenter said she met Comstock when he and her son, Nick Harrison, played football in high school. She said their friendship continued after school, with the two getting together when he would come home to Van Buren on leave.

“My son would not be in boot camp if it weren’t for him,” she said. Harrison is due to graduate from Marine basic training next month.

Comstock excelled in sports, both at Cedarville, where he began high school, and Alma, where he transferred in his junior year and graduated in 2006.

“He was just a great kid,” Alma track coach Tom McMurray said of Comstock. “He was a kid you love coaching. Anything you would ask him to do, he was more than willing.”

Comstock’s funeral will be May 2. Following a private service, there will be an 11 a.m. burial ceremony at the U.S. National Cemetery in Fort Smith.

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Comstock overcame rough childhood

The Associated Press

William C. Comstock overcame living in a series of foster home and excelled as a student athlete in his short but unique life, friends say.

“He was just a great kid,” said his former track coach, Tom McMurray. “He was a kid you love coaching. Anything you would ask him to do, he was more than willing.”

Comstock, 21, of Van Buren, Ark., died April 22 after a noncombat incident in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune and was an ammunition technician.

He was on his second deployment. His father said he was wounded in action about a year earlier, shot in the knee. He earned a Purple Heart. When he recovered, he volunteered for a second tour.

“He was the perfect Marine,” said Janet Parmenter, who met Comstock when he and her son, Nick Harrison, played football in high school.

“My son would not be in boot camp if it weren’t for him,” she said. Harrison is due to graduate from Marine basic training next month.

Comstock joined the Corps in January 2007.

Comstock excelled in sports, both at Cedarville, where he began high school, and Alma, where he transferred in his junior year and graduated in 2006.