STAFF SGT.MELVIN L. BLAZER

MARINE FROM MOORE KILLED

From "The Tulsa World," Tulsa Oklahoma, Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Section A, Page 5

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A U.S. Marine from Moore is among those who died of injuries suffered in Iraq, the military said Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Melvin L. Blazer, 38, died Sunday as a result of enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a news release.

No more details were provided by the military about circumstances of the deaths.

Blazer was one of seven Marines to receive a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in November, when an explosive hit their convoy.

Calls to Blazer's family in Oklahoma were not immediately returned. A Marine answering the phone at the home Blazer shared with his wife and children said the family was struggling with the loss and probably would not be talking to the press. Blazer was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A U.S. Marine from Moore who was killed Sunday in Iraq was highly regarded and admired by all who knew him, according to his wife.

Staff Sgt. Melvin L. Blazer Jr., 38, died after coming under enemy fire in Fallujah in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, family members and the U.S. Department of Defense said.

"To know my husband was to love my husband," Dana Blazer told The Oklahoman by telephone from her home near Camp Pendleton, Calif.

"Everybody loved him and admired him and respected him and held him in such high regard. He was a hero in his everyday life."

Blazer graduated from Moore High School in 1984, and decided he would make the military his career a few years later. He married his wife in 1989.

"We were such wonderful friends for many, many years," Dana Blazer said. "The friendship blossomed into a wonderful love. The stuff fairy tales are made of."

Blazer's father, Melvin Blazer Sr., said he was awakened early Monday by a doorbell ring.

"They told me that he was killed in Fallujah with small-arms fire and that he was not alone when it happened," Melvin Blazer Sr. said as he fought back tears.

"I loved him dearly," the elder Blazer, a Vietnam veteran, said. "I was very proud of him."

No more details were provided by the military about circumstances of the death.

Blazer was one of seven Marines to receive a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in November, when an explosive hit their convoy.

He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Use Browser's "Back" Arrow To Return to Previous Page

* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *