Marine Sgt. Frank R. Zaehringer III

Died October 11, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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23, of Reno, Nev.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Oct. 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

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Marine’s work ethic showed early in life

The Associated Press

Frank Zaehringer’s high school baseball team used to have an honor called the “Hustle Award.”

Now, that honor is called the “Frank Zaehringer Award.”

“He would always ask the same three questions,” Malcolm said. “Number one: How was I? Number two: How was the team going to be? And number three: Are there any players anymore that are as tough as him, hustled like him, and had the long, flowing, white hair like him?” said Ron Malcolm, the baseball coach at Wooster High School in Reno, Nev.

Zaehringer, of Reno, was killed in combat on Oct. 11 in Helmand province. He was 23 years old and assigned to Camp Lejeune.

KTVN in Reno reported that his friends and family remembered him at a memorial service last month as an active young man with a good sense of humor. He also had a strong work ethic, Malcolm said.

“Frank showed himself to be a rare individual, endowed with intelligence, warmth, common sense, and an intense desire to give of himself for others,” Malcolm said. “When Frank would come home on his leaves from the military, he would always come by the baseball field to see me. I loved him for that.”

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Lejeune Marine dies in Helmand IED blast

By Lenita Powers

The Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal

RENO, Nev. — A Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marine was killed Monday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Marine Corps announced late Tuesday.

Frank R. Zaehringer III, 23, died while on patrol in Helmand.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Lejeune.

Claudia Zaehringer of Reno said Tuesday that her nephew was fatally wounded after an improvised explosive device went off.

The son of Sharon and Frank Zaehringer Jr., the Marine graduated from Wooster High School in 2005 and joined the Marines in 2007.

Claudia Zaehringer said her nephew had wanted to become a Marine since he was a teenager.

“Nobody could talk him out of it,” she said. “He would run around with a backpack filled with rocks just to get in shape for boot camp.”

The Marine had served in Iraq in 2009 and left in July for his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, his aunt said.

“It was a seven-month tour so he was due to come back in February,” she said. “He already had reupped for four more years [while] in Afghanistan.”

Frank Zaehringer III is survived by his wife, Cassie; his parents; and his sister, Nicole. His parents were traveling to Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Tuesday to retrieve his remains.