BuffaloNews: Seven Marines from unit based in Buffalo are wounded

2 from India Company badly hurt by bomb

By JAY REY
News Staff Reporter

Seven Marines from a Buffalo-based unit were wounded last week while serving in Iraq.

A device exploded while the Marines were on patrol Friday, injuring six members of India Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Reginment, based at the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Porter Avenue. A seventh was shot last Tuesday on patrol.

Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers, 26, of Elma, was the most seriously wounded. His right arm and leg were amputated, according to his mother and a Marine spokesman.

He was in critical, but stable condition, Wednesday in a hospital in Germany.

Beyers is in an induced coma and expected to be transported to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., this weekend, said his mother, Tricia Hess Beyers.

Beyers, who grew up in Alden, and five others from the unit were patroling in the al-Anbar province Friday when an improvised explosive device went off, said Master Sgt. Thomas Whelan.

Beyers suffered shrapnel wounds, as did Lance Cpl. Matthew Schilling, of West Virginia. Schilling's right foot was amputated and he also is now in a hospital in Germany, Whelan said.

The others injured were:

Cpl. William Maher of Hamburg, who suffered an inner-ear injury from the explosion and may have fractured his right wrist.

Lance Cpl. Nathan Timblin of North Tonawanda, who suffered a concussion and inner-ear injury.

Pvt. Timothy Condello of Fairport, who suffered a concussion and ear injury, as well.

Lance Cpl. Justin Howard of Great Valley, who suffered a back sprain and ear injury.

All four were treated and were expected to return to duty, Whelan said.

In a separate incident last Tuesday, Lance Cpl. James E. Caflisch II, 23, of Lakewood, was wounded when a bullet ricocheted off a building and hit him in the upper right leg. He is expected to make a full recovery, said his father, James E. Caflisch.

Semper Fi