Lance Cpl. Jeremy L. Tinnel, a Marine rifleman who survived a roadside bomb attack in Iraq's Anbar province in May, died Sunday in a boating accident on the Euphrates River, the Defense Department announced yesterday.
Lance Corporal Tinnel was featured in a Sun article June 10 about American military casualties in Iraq from roadside bombs, or IEDs (improvised explosive devices). While the Pentagon listed his address as Mechanicsville, Va., his wife, Angel Tinnel, lives in Havre de Grace, according to the local Zellman Mitchell Smith Funeral Home.
Owner Fred Zellman said a service will be held in Havre de Grace after tomorrow but the family has not settled on a date or time. Mrs. Tinnel could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Tall, with an easygoing smile and a struggling mustache, Lance Corporal Tinnel, 20, was a turret gunner on a Humvee during a routine patrol May 14 when an IED detonated near the right side of the vehicle.
The blast blew away the wheels, hood and engine block, and sent the wreckage screeching across the road.
Interviewed a day after the incident, Lance Corporal Tinnel said he had been slammed down on his M240G machine gun by the blast.
"I heard a 'BOOM!' and everything went black," he said. "It was like hell."
He and two other Marines in the vehicle were shaken but unhurt. All were assigned to the 1st Battalion 2nd Marines out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., which was deployed to Iraq in March to help quell sectarian violence in a string of dusty towns along the Euphrates.
On Sunday, Lance Corporal Tinnel died in a "nonhostile" boat accident, along with Lance Cpl. William C. Chambers of Ringgold, Ga., also 20.
Lt. Col. Curtis Hill of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force said he had no further details on the incident, which he said is under investigation. The commander of Lance Corporal Tinnel's battalion in Baghdad did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking clarification.
Lance Corporal Tinnel enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 2004 and was promoted to lance corporal in January.
His medals included the Combat Action Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Colonel Hill said.
In an e-mail last month about the IED incident, Mrs. Tinnel wrote, "Let me tell you, it is a scary thing to get the phone call that the Humvee that your husband was in got blown up by an IED." She signed the e-mail: "Proud Marine Wife."
In a May interview in Iraq with The Sun, Lance Corporal Tinnel struggled to explain why, despite the risks and dangers, he felt compelled to serve in Iraq.
"The [stuff] we go through builds a lot of camaraderie," he said, squinting into bright sunlight. "We all volunteered. Of course, it's the patriotism. We all love our country, but it's our job to do our part."
david.wood@baltsun.com