Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Rodriguez

Died December 11, 2013 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

19, of Fairhaven, Mass.; assigned to 1st Combat Eng Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Dec. 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Marine combat engineer killed in Afghanistan

By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer

A California-based Marine died Dec. 11 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced today.

Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Rodriguez, 19, of Fairhaven, Mass., was assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, part of 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., according to a Defense Department news release.

Rodriguez was conducting operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, at the time of his death.

The Defense Department did not immediately release additional information about the incident.

1st Combat Engineer Battalion deployed to Afghanistan earlier this fall, taking over for 3rd CEB in a transfer of authority ceremony at Camp Leatherneck on Oct. 21. Rodriguez’s death is the first Marine Corps casualty in Afghanistan since October.