Body of Fletcher High Marine Killed in Iraq Returns Home

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL -- The remains of 23-year-old Corporal Marcus Preudhomme have been returned to the First Coast.

An honor guard escorted his remains off a plane that landed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville at around 11:15 a.m.

Hundreds lined the base's main road to salute as the procession drove past.

Corporal Preudhomme and two other Marines from his division were killed by a suicide bomber last week.

The Department of Defense reports Corporal Preudhomme and Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American Samoa; and Capt. Philip J. Dykeman, 38, of Brockport, N.Y. died in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

A suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform detonated an explosive belt during a meeting with local sheiks and community leaders opposed to Al-Qaida, killing the three Marines and 30 Iraqi citizens.

Preudhomme served as an administrative clerk with 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He joined the Marine Corps in April 2005 and reported to Hawaii in October 2005.

His awards include the Purple Heart Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, two Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

Preudhomme listed North Miami Beach as his hometown.

He is the third person in uniform from the First Coast, and the second from Fletcher High, to be killed in Iraq since Memorial Day.

He graduated from Fletcher High in 2004.