A Camp Lejeune artilleryman was killed in action in northern Iraq after Saturday’s indirect fire attack by the Islamic State.
27-year-old Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, assigned to Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, was killed at approximately 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the Marine Corps Times. Eight other Marines were also injured.
Islamic State militants fired a rocket at a small outpost near Mahmour, a small operation base where U.S. servicemembers are advising Iraqi forces. The base is fairly new, roughly 60 miles away from Mosul.
Cardin was part of the 26th MEU, which sent an attachment of Marines to help guard the base in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Cardin hails from Temecula, California and enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 2006. He has previous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan three times, according to the news piece.
The Marine Corps announced that they’re dispatching more Marines from the 26th MEU to join the 3,700 other troops based in Iraq to fight against ISIS.
According to the Associated Press, The U.S. statement announcing the Marine deployment did not say how many were sent, but two U.S. officials said it is between 100 and 200. The officials were not authorized to provide details about the deployment and so spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Marine Corps expressed their condolences in a statement, “The loss of a service member greatly affects us all. This tragedy saddens II Marine Expeditionary Force and the 26th MEU.”
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