CARIBBEAN SEA — A Marine assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment out of Camp Lejeune has been declared dead after falling overboard from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima on Feb. 7.
Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, 21, was declared deceased on Feb. 10 following an exhaustive, 72-hour search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean Sea. Oforah, a Florida native, was an infantry rifleman deployed with Battalion Landing Team 3/6 as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable).
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“The loss of Lance Cpl. Oforah is deeply felt across the entire Navy-Marine Corps team,” Col. Tom Trimble, commanding officer of the 22nd MEU (SOC), said in a statement. “He will be profoundly missed, and his dedicated service will not be forgotten.”
The search effort was a multi-branch operation involving five U.S. Navy ships and 10 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. Search assets included MH-60 Sierra and Romeo helicopters, an AH-1Z Viper, a UH-1Y Venom, a P-8 Poseidon, and two Air Force HC-130J Combat King IIs. An MQ-9 Reaper drone also supported the search, which covered a wide area of the Caribbean over three days of nonstop flight hours and small-boat operations.
Oforah enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2023 and graduated from Parris Island in early 2024. After completing the School of Infantry at Camp Lejeune, he was assigned to the 3/6 “The Teufelhunden,” a unit with a storied history in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
At the time of the incident, the USS Iwo Jima was conducting operations in the Caribbean. As reported by Forbes, the ship has recently been in the headlines for its role in the high-profile transport of captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
The circumstances surrounding how Oforah went overboard remain under investigation by military authorities.
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