DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, 21, of Lexington, Ky., died Aug. 6 as a result of an explosion from a suicide, vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Amiriyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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Marine's death in Iraq is a blow to friend, school

SAYRE GRAD REMEMBERED AS HAPPY, OUTGOING

By Jim Warren

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Betty McKinney was surprised when her high school boyfriend Chase Comley joined the U.S. Marine Corps; she was crushed to learn that he had been killed in Iraq over the weekend.

"It's unbelievable; it's just hard to fathom it right now," McKinney said yesterday. "We were very close."

Semper Fi