Bothell Marine dies during duty in Afghanistan

Published 10:01 pm Wednesday, September 10, 2008

BOTHELL — A Marine from Bothell died Tuesday in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

First Lt. Nicholas A. Madrazo, 25, died while supporting combat operations in Parwan province.

“Everything is still new to us,” the Marine’s father, Joel Madrazo, said Wednesday. “We’re just trying to cope with the situation.”

Madrazo was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 37, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, Japan.

Around 20 people with connections to Snohomish and Island counties have died in combat or training operations since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started.

As of Wednesday, at least 517 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Associated Press.

Since the Iraq war began in March 2003, at least 4,155 members of the U.S. military have died there, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,377 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com