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Marine Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum
Died October 24, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
19, of Saugus, Calif.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base, Hawaii; killed Oct 24 in a non-combat-related vehicle accident near Abu Ghraib, Iraq.
Hawaii-based Marine killed in Iraq
Associated Press
HONOLULU — A Kaneohe-based Marine has died in Iraq from injuries suffered in a non-combat related vehicle accident, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, 19, of Saugus, Calif., died Oct. 24 after the crash near Abu Gharib, Iraq. The accident was under investigation, the Pentagon said in a brief statement.
Further details were unavailable.
Slocum was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.
Gunnery Sgt. Claudia LaMantia, a base spokeswoman, said Slocum was assigned to Kaneohe in February and had no family in the islands.
About 900 members of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment from Kaneohe were mobilized in August for combat duty in Iraq. They left for the Middle East from Okinawa, Japan, where they had been since early July as part of a regularly scheduled six-month deployment.
Slocum is the first Hawaii-based Marine killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan since the start of the war in Iraq in March 2003. Slocum had no family in Hawaii, military officials said.
The Marine’s parents, Kay and Robert Slocum, were given few details on his death. They were told their son died when his Humvee overturned while he was maneuvering through barricades at a Marine base.
“He had a lot of friends. You wouldn’t believe all the friends who have been here today,” said his uncle, Keith Lair. “He liked to have fun; he was really popular.”
Slocum, who graduated in 2003 from Saugus High School, broke his foot during boot camp, which delayed his Marine graduation by a week.
He is survived by his parents; sister, Kathy and brother Robert Jr.