Maj. Megan M. McClung, of Coupeville, Wash., died Dec. 6 in Al Anbar province

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
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<p>A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marine Corps has died in Iraq, becoming the first female Marine officer to be killed in the conflict.</p>

<p>Maj. Megan M. McClung, of Coupeville, Wash., died Dec. 6 in Al Anbar province, the Department of Defense said in a news release.</p>

<p>McClung, 34, was a public affairs officer assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters at Camp Pendleton.</p>

<p>The exact circumstances surrounding McClung's death were not immediately released, but Camp Pendleton spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr Cliff Carnes said she was escorting media when she was killed. The journalists she was with were not seriously injured, he said.</p>

<p>"She was a Marine's Marine," Carnes said. "She exemplified everything that it was to be a warrior, she was a great personality and a great friend."</p>

<p>Her boss in Iraq, Lt. Col. Bryan Salas, said McClung was an advocate of media coverage of military opera-tions, and while in Iraq she managed the Marine media embed program.</p>

<p>Michael Fumento, a freelance reporter who has been to Iraq three times, met McClung in Baghdad last year. He described her as smart, kind, and extremely efficient.Carnes said McClung, who was unmarried, was in the final month of a yearlong deployment to Iraq.</p>

<p>McClung joined the Marine Corps in May 1995 after graduating from the Naval Academy. </p>

<p>A call to her family home in Coupeville was unanswered.</p>

<p>Three other female Marines have been killed in Iraq, according to the Defense Department's most recent numbers.</p>

<p>Lance Cpl. Juana Navarro Arellano died in April after being shot in Anbar province. </p>

<p>Lance Cpl. Holly A. Cha-rette and Cpl. Ramona Valdez died in June last year when a suicide bomber attacked their convoy.</p>

<p>In all U.S. military branches, 60 women have been killed in Iraq. Fifty-two of these women were in the Army.</p>

<p>Details of McClung's burial at Arlington National Cemetery were being finalized.</p>

<p>The Associated Press State & Local Wire
December 12, 2006 Tuesday 2:06 AM GMT</p>

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<p>What really frosted me was the very next morning after this story broke on
our national news....our local editor decided to - in my opinion at least -
take a shot at the point of her valor. He thought he was supporting her
memory. I disagree. If anyone has any interest they can go to the following
link and read his editorial and the lists of responses posted online. I also
sent him a private copy.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/13/perspective/vandoorn/20_05_1912_12_06.txt%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/13/perspective/vandoorn/20_05_1912_12_06.txt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My heart and prayers are with her family and the families of all who will
face this holiday season with the absence of their loved ones.</p>

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<p>Seems to me he used this woman's desire and choice to serve our nation in the Corps and her death for his egotistical journalistic purposes illustrating his personal disdain for our nation's involvement in this war. </p>

<p>Disappointing and in extraordinary poor taste. Sadly, what we've come to expect from 2 bit entertainers posing as journalists. Still and ironically, this soldier he's used was dying to ensure his freedom to illustrate her as his poster child for his misguided purpose. Another great American, and I'm not referring to Mr. Van Doorn.</p>

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<p>CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec. 12, 2006) -- Servicemembers here gathered at the Chapel of Hope Dec.12 to honor and remember fallen Marine, Maj. Megan M. McClung.McClung, 34, was killed Dec. 6 by an improvised explosive device in downtown Ar Ramadi where she had been serving as the public affairs officer for the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division since September.</p>

<p>The 1995 graduate of the Naval Academy was serving a one year tour in Iraq with I Marine Expeditionary Force and was scheduled to rotate back to Camp Pendleton in February.</p>

<p>McClung was an avid runner who could out run all but four people on the camp, said Lt. Col. Bryan F. Salas, director of public affairs for Multi National Force- West, during his speech at the memorial ceremony.</p>

<p>"She was an athlete, a scholar, but most of all she was a warrior," said Salas, who met McClung as a young lieutenant at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., when she served as the Academics and Scheduling officer for the depot. "Her running ability, her athleticism, was a metaphor for everything in her life. She took it to the wall, she ran hard to the finish line, and was always a winner."</p>

<p>McClung was a tri-athlete, completing six Ironman competitions that include distance running, swimming and cycling. She organized the satellite Marine Corps Marathon run in Al Asad, Iraq in October. She was the second woman to cross the finish line. She also completed her master's degree in criminal justice while she was here."She did all this late into the night after completing a tremendous work load," said Salas, 42 of Virginia Beach, Va.</p>

<p>"Megan was blessed with an overabundance of energy," said Capt. Melissa Schroth, I MEF adjutant, roommate and a close friend to McClung. "Unlike us normal folks, she gained energy with every mile she ran. But it wasn't energy that drove her - it was an indomitable spirit, an inner fountain of desire to do more and be better."</p>

<p>As news spread about her death, E-mails poured into the public affairs office from around the world. The correspondence revealed that many people who knew her won't soon forget her energy and her spirit. Her friend and colleague, 2nd Lt. Jill Leyden shared the letters at the memorial.</p>

<p>Emily Harris, a longtime friend wrote: "I am sorry Megan is gone... Megan and I were classmates; served time together in summer school, too. What I remember most was her energy. At first I thought she might have an intravenous drip of adrenalin, and then I witnessed how she could down many six packs of diet coke in a week.I also got a chance to spend a little time with her in Parris Island, South Carolina and Cherry Point, North Carolina.</p>

<p>I haven't seen or spoken to her in quite some time, but I can say that I wept when I read the initial e-mail. Her energy is so great, I can still feel it. I am so sorry she is gone from this life. The world will miss her, but you already know that."Nancy Corbin, a former coworker wrote: "Megan was not like any other person I'd known, funny, spontaneous, mischievous, a running-workout fool, and so good at what she did!"</p>

<p>Data platoon commander with 9th Communications Battalion, 1st Lt. Carla J. Jurczynski, 24, of Pattersonville, N.Y. wrote: "I was in awe of her as a person, an athlete, and as a Marine. Her extensive athletic accomplishments included the completion of 6 Ironman triathlons - a feat that I can only hope to accomplish once some day. Ever since I noticed the Ironman tattoo on her ankle, conversations turned into a game of 20 questions - I would ask and she would answer - she never hesitated to share a funny story, offer a helpful training tip or give words of encouragement." Jurczynski is currently deployed here.</p>

<p>Salas offered a lasting reflection about what McClung taught him.</p>

<p>"In the Marine Corps we don't grow old in the same town, with the same neighbors and friends close by. Instead, our neighbors are those Marines that serve with us, some through our entire adult life," said Salas. "We grow old together in the Corps - watch each other's children grow. Cherish those friendships you make with the Marines sitting next to you. They will become one of the most important things in your life."</p>

<p>Defense Department Documents and Publications
December 13, 2006</p>

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<p><a href="http://patterico.com/2006/12/07/5491/ramadi-press-officer-megan-mcclung/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://patterico.com/2006/12/07/5491/ramadi-press-officer-megan-mcclung/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
In working on my post on the L.A. Times report on the Ramadi airstrike, I exchanged several e-mails with Maj. Megan McClung, a press officer in Ramadi. She was at all times very cooperative and friendly with me. She never once gave me the impression that she thought my inquiries were unimportant because they were coming from a mere blogger. I quoted her by name in the post:...

[/quote]
</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/002869.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/002869.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p><a href="http://www.fumento.com/weblog/archives/2006/12/video_video_mem.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fumento.com/weblog/archives/2006/12/video_video_mem.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Published in the Orange County Register:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1385846.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1385846.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
The death of Marine Maj. Megan McClung in Iraq earlier this month shook up a lot of people, inside and outside the Marine Corps.</p>

<p>That was partly because Maj. McClung, 34, a graduate of Mission Viejo High School and the U.S. Naval Academy, was widely known and widely liked, not only in the Marine Corps but also among the many journalists she assisted in Iraq – me included – in her job as a Marine public affairs officer. The news that this vital young woman had been killed by a roadside bomb in Ramadi was hard to accept....

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>American Forces Press Service</p>

<p>CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2007 - A new broadcast studio was dedicated to the memory of Marine Corps Maj. Megan M. McClung during a ceremony at Al Faw Palace here Dec. 7. </p>

<p>On Dec. 6, 2006, McClung, a public affairs officer, was escorting journalists into downtown Ramadi when an improvised explosive device destroyed her vehicle, instantly killing her and two soldiers.</p>

<p>Army Maj. Joseph Edstrom, Multinational Corps Iraq deputy public affairs officer, said he wanted the studio to be dedicated to McClung since its construction began. Edstrom said he knew McClung when she worked with Kellogg, Brown and Root and had spoken to her a day before her death.</p>

<p>"To hear of people across the services honoring her is great and humbling," said Marine Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., public affairs chief, who served with McClung in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006. "It's moving and hard to put in words. I still hear her laugh, and I still see her smile. She was a good person."</p>

<p>Servicemembers who served with or knew McClung traveled to the ceremony along with special guests, including Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, MNCI commander; Marine Maj. Gen. John Paxton, Multinational Force Iraq chief of staff; and Marine Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin, Multinational Force West commander.</p>

<p>Marine Col. Jeff Satterfield, Multinational Force West plans and operations assessment officer, was McClung's commanding officer at Cherry Point, N.C. "Megan was a servant-leader; nothing was ever about her," he said. "I'm sure she would have preferred the studio be named after the two soldiers she died with.</p>

<p>"It didn't matter what uniform you wore,... she touched you," Satterfield said before getting choked up. "It's hard to say goodbye to a friend."</p>

<p>McClung was serving with 1st Marine Expeditionary Force as public affairs officer for Anbar province and was the first female Marine officer to die in Iraq. "I wish Megan could see Ramadi and the rest of Al Anbar today," Odierno said after a brief emotional pause.</p>

<p>McClung, a native of Orange County, Calif., attended the U.S. Naval Academy and received her commission in 1995. She was the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to be killed in action since the school's founding.</p>

<p>"I spoke often with Megan in my first Iraq tour while she served in a civilian capacity with Kellogg, Brown and Root," said Army Lt. Col. James Hutton, MNCI public affairs officer. "She always spoke of her love of the Marine Corps and how she hoped to once again serve in uniform. She achieved getting back to active service, and we're all so proud of her dedication."</p>

<p>"It's tough to describe her," Oliva said. "She was a ball of energy, an athlete, a mentor, a friend, a leader and an inspiration. She was undefined.... No one said who Megan McClung was. She said who she was. At her memorial service in Fallujah, the entire chapel was filled with people who wanted to say goodbye."</p>

<p>(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)
Copyright 2007 Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc.
Defense Department Documents and Publications
December 11, 2007</p>

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<p>RIP - Maj McClung.<br>
To use the death of a soldier as a platform to call to remove our troops is insulting to those who selflessly give the ultimate sacrifice</p>

<p>
[quote]
She was the first female graduate of the Naval Academy to be killed in action since the school's founding.

[/quote]

how does one account for:
THE</a> LORDS OF KOBOL: Swampscott Marine pilot killed in Iraq
February, 2007

[quote]
U.S. Marine Capt. Jennifer Harris, 28, was a helicopter pilot with the elite HMM-364 Purple Foxes. She was killed on Wednesday during her third tour of duty in Iraq —just days before she was scheduled to return home.</p>

<p>Harris, 28, a 1996 graduate of Swampscott High School, was one of seven U.S. troops who died when the Marine transport helicopter she was piloting crashed in flames in a field northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.</p>

<p>Airlifting casualties out of a war zone was all in a day’s work for Harris, who was the only female pilot in her squadron during her first tour of duty. In October 2005, Harris, who had been home on leave visiting her family and friends for a few days, was preparing to return to her unit at Camp Pendleton when she gave The Daily Item an interview.</p>

<p>At that time, Harris said when she graduated from Swampscott High in 1996, she knew she wanted to do something different so she went to United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and accepted a commission in the Marine Corps.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So - it appears the Naval Academy has lost not one but two female grads.</p>

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<p>"Well Done" to our female warriors. It's pretty apparent that they share the dangers of combat alongside their brothers in arms. Hopefully their example will be an inspiration to many more young men and women who answer their country's call.</p>