Springfield Marine killed in Iraq

August 5, 2006
From staff and wire reports
SPRINGFIELD — A Springfield man serving with the Marine Corps died from wounds received in Iraq on Thursday, his 24th birthday.

The Department of Defense said Friday that Lance Cpl. Kurt Dechen, a 2001 graduate of Springfield High School, died in Anbar Province, where he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.

Dechen was deployed to Iraq in February, according to Kyla Beardsley of Springfield, a friend.

The Marines have not released any details of the incident in which Dechen died. They have reported two Marines died in separate incidents in Anbar Province on Thursday. Dechen was with Regimental Combat Team 5, I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. The other man was Sgt. George M. Ulloa Jr., 23, of Austin, Texas.

Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, is the most dangerous area in Iraq for U.S. service members. Since July 27 at least 17 U.S. soldiers and Marines have been killed in Iraq, all but two of them in Anbar.

Dechen was the 22nd serviceman with Vermont ties to be killed in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. A 23rd Vermonter died of natural causes in Kuwait.

Beardsley described Dechen as an outgoing, fun-loving person who cared deeply for his friends and family.

Christina Brown of Springfield attended Castleton State College with Dechen, where he was working towards his degree in criminal justice.

She said Dechen loved to go for rides in his Corvette, one of his great passions.

"He had a magnetic personality. He was full of life and had a great sense of humor," she said.

Kiki Boyens of Springfield is a neighbor of the Dechens. She said she knew Kurt Dechen from the time he was born.

"He was an all-around great kid, a hard worker. He wanted to do the right thing at all times," said Boyens, a former Springfield police officer who had spoken with Dechen about his becoming a police officer.

"He really wanted to pursue that," Boyens said.

Tony Daniels, formerly of Daniels Construction in Ascutney, said he hired Kurt Dechen as a construction laborer when he was 17 and worked with him every summer after that until Daniels retired two years ago.

He said Dechen's sense of humor allowed him to survive that first summer as a rookie laborer. "The guys like to rib the new hirees. But, he was respectable, laughed and accepted it," he said. "They couldn't get him going. He never had a sour note or word about anybody."

Daniels said Dechen's hard-working attitude and keen sense of responsibility were well beyond his years.

Dechen only missed one day of work, according to Daniels, and that was because he was taking down trees that fell on his grandmother's greenhouse.Daniels said Dechen joined the service for the same reason that he wanted to be a police officer—to contribute to society.

"He was going to grow up and be part of the Springfield community," Daniels said. "He would have made an excellent cop."

Dechen was the second Vermonter Boyens knew who was killed in Iraq.

She said she went to school with Kevin Sheehan, a Vermont National Guard soldier killed in Iraq on May 25, 2004.

"The whole thing is pretty overwhelming," she said.

Staff writer Johanna Sorrentino and Wilson Ring of The Associated Press contributed to this report.