Person Page 4,977

Obituary -- The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Sunday, 26 FEB 1995, p.22 (Newspapers.com):

MARION

Marine Lance Cpl. Damian W. Myers, 20, stationed in Japan, died Monday, Feb. 20, 1995, in Okinawa, Japan, after a sight-seeing accident. Services: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Prugh's Chapel, Burlington, where friends may call from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday. The Rev. Joey Link will officiate. Burial: Aspen Grove Cemetery, Soldiers Field.

Survivors include his wife, Jenna of Marion; his father and step-mother, Julie and David Myers of Burlington; his mother, Lori Myers of Burlington; and a son, Joshua Cantu of Burlington.

Also surviving are his stepgrandfather, Herbert Bindel of Burlington; his stepgrandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reynolds of Burlington; and aunts, uncles and cousins.

Damian was born Dec. 7, 1974, in Fort Madison to David and Lori Ortega Myers and married Jenna Thimmesch.

A Memorial fund has been established.

The Courier, Waterloo, Iowa; Friday, 24 Feb 1995; Page 25; (Newspapers.com):

Iowa Marine dies in China Sea

BURLINGTON -- An Iowa Marine stationed in Japan drowned in the China Sea.

Lance Cpl. Damian Myers, 20, and some friends were spending their day off Sunday along the rock shore in Okinawa, Japan.

"They're not sure, some of those big waves or strong winds knocked them into the ocean," Myers' grandmother Donna Ortega said.

All four were rescued, but Myers was unconscious, Ortega said.

"They tried to resuscitate him, but he was hit by a second wave and they lost him," Ortega said. He was washed back out to sea.

Myers, a 1993 graduate of Burlington High School, had been stationed on the Japanese island since September. He enlisted with the Marines during his junior year of high school.

He was a member of a maintenance unit who had graduated second in his Marine Corps class and had recently received a letter of commendation.

The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Wednesday, 22 February 1995; Page 9; (Newspapers.com):

E. Iowa Marine drowns in Okinawa

A? ? U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal from Eastern Iowa died during an off-duty sightseeing accident with three soldier-friends in Okinawa, Japan.

Damian W. Myers, 20, who grew up in Burlington and whose wife, Jenna, lives with her parents in Marion, was found by a Japanese search and rescue team almost a day after he disappeared in ocean waves about 3:30 p.m. Monday, Okinawa time (12:30 a.m. Monday, Iowa time), according to Chief Warrant Officer Bill Wright, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington D.C.

Wright said the accident happened at Bolo Point, a scenic, rocky area of Okinawa. Okinawa is south of the Japanese mainland and is home to most of the 24,000-member U.S. Marine Corps' western Pacific force.

Wright said initial reports indicated that Myers and three friends were sightseeing and picture taking when Myers apparently got too close to a rock's edge and was swept off by a wave. He said the three friends attempted to rescue Myers without success. The three themselves were rescued by American and Japanese rescue teams, said Wright.

Myers' father-in-law, Jim Holt, of 3110 Meadow Glen St., Marion, said Tuesday that Marine Corps officials contacted Myers' wife in person Monday evening in Marion. At the time, Myers' body had not yet been recovered, said Holt.

Myers' wife went to Burlington last night to be with her husband's parents.

Holt said that Myers was an only son.

"We're not in a shooting war over there, so you don't expect this," said Holt.? ? "He was a fine young man."

Myers and his wife married in August, two weeks before he left for Okinawa. He was expected to return to the United States by summer's end.