Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan R. Wood

Died November 9, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Kirkland, Wash.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 9 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Washington Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Another family in Washington state is mourning the loss of a loved one in the war in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Nathan Raymond Wood, 19, a member of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was killed Tuesday while participating in the assault on Fallujah.

His parents, Rex and DeEtte Wood of Kirkland, were notified shortly after hearing that their son’s best friend had been wounded in the same military action.

“We’ve heard through our network of friends with other kids over there that it’s the worst, a slaughterhouse. It’s pretty fierce,” said Bill Olson of Bothell, an uncle of the dead Marine.

“Anybody who has kids over there now, our prayers are with them,” Olson said. “We’re very proud of the soldiers and Marines and the sacrifices they are making, but we can’t really say we support the war.”

Wood joined the Marines out of Juanita High School with some friends, partly to obtain benefits for college but also to challenge himself, Olson said.

In his last e-mail to the family last week, “he said to keep an eye out for things on TV. He mentioned a railroad station but couldn’t say much because of security,” the uncle said.

When the family heard that the Fallujah railroad station was secured by U.S. and Iraqi forces on Monday, “we thought he was safe,” Olson said.