Marine Sgt. Michael J. Yarbrough

Died September 6, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Malvern, Ark.; assigned to 3rd Assault amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Sept. 6 while conducting combat operations in Albu Hyatt, Iraq. Also killed were Cpl. Christopher L. Poole Jr., Cpl. Bryan J. Scripsick and Staff Sgt. John C. Stock.

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Arkansas Marine killed in Anbar province of Iraq

The Associated Press

MALVERN, Ark. — The Defense Department announced Sept. 10 that a Marine from Glen Rose was among four to die in combat Sept. 6 in Iraq.

Sgt. Michael J. Yarbrough, 24, was killed during combat in Anbar province. Also killed were Cpl. Christopher L. Poole Jr., 22, of Mount Dora, Fla.; Cpl. Bryan J. Scripsick, 22, of Wayne, Okla.; and Staff Sgt. John C. Stock, 26, of Longview, Texas.

The Defense Department didn’t provide further detail of how the men died.

The four Marines were all assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Yarbrough’s mother, Rhonda Kidder, said her son was killed by a roadside bomb while on his third tour of duty.

“He told me, the last time before he left, ‘Mom, as long as my men are there, I’m going to be there with them,’ ” Kidder told Little Rock television station KATV.

Kidder told the station her son earlier volunteered to return to Iraq in place of a friend whose wife was expecting a baby

“Michael didn’t want to see him go, so he took his place,” she said.

Yarbrough joined after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, his mother said.

“Ever since he was a little boy, he would march around with a stick on his shoulder, saying ‘I’m going to be in the Army, Mom, I’m going to be in the army,’ ” Kidder told the station.

She said Yarbrough and his wife planned to have children and that they doted on their nieces and nephews.

“He grew up knowing he wanted to be a Marine,” Yarbrough’s cousin John Keeling told Little Rock television station KTHV. “He always told his mother that.” Keeling also noted that Yarbrough had volunteered to take the place of a friend.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

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Malvern native son given bid farewell with military honors

The Associated Press

MALVERN, Ark. — It seemed like the whole town of Malvern turned out Sept. 15 to bid a final farewell to Marine Sgt. Michael Joe Yarbrough.

Born in the small town, Yarbrough, 24, was one of four Marines who died in combat Sept. 6 in Iraq. He was on his third tour of duty and was scheduled to return home in November when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Anbar province.

Residents lined the streets Sept. 15 and waved American flags as a horse-drawn carriage with Yarbrough’s casket went by. The procession of about 100 cars and motorcycles slowly covered the six miles from First Baptist Church to Rockport Memorial Gardens for the burial.

Marines served as pallbearers and Yarbrough’s uncle, Rev. Doug Fendley, presided over the church funeral, Regency Funeral Home said. The service was conducted with full military honors.

Yarbrough’s most recent Arkansas home was at Glen Rose. He and his wife, Mary Ann Wilbanks, had wanted to have children, according to his mother, Rhonda Yarbrough of Benton.

Yarbrough grew up wanting to be a soldier, his mother said after Yarbrough’s death was announced by the Defense Department. On one occasion, he volunteered to return to Iraq in place of a friend whose wife was expecting a baby.

Yarbrough died along with Cpl. Christopher L. Poole Jr., 22, of Mount Dora, Fla.; Cpl. Bryan J. Scripsick, 22, of Wayne, Okla.; and Staff Sgt. John C. Stock, 26, of Longview, Texas.

The four Marines were all assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Yarbrough was the 51st Arkansan to be killed in Iraq since the war started in 2003.