Darrell J. Schumann – Lance Corporal, United States Marine Corps

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U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 087-05
January 27, 2005

DoD Identifies Marine Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of 16 Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Captain Paul C. Alaniz, 32, of Corpus Christi, Texas, Lance Corporal Jonathan E. Etterling, 22, of Wheelersburg, Ohio, Captain Lyle L. Gordon, 30, of Midlothian, Texas, Lance Corporal Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, Arkansas, Lance Corporal Saeed Jafarkhani-Torshizi Jr., 24, of Fort Worth, Texas, Corporal Sean P. Kelly, 23, of Pitman, New Jersey, Staff Sergeant Dexter S. Kimble, 30, of Houston, Texas, Lance Corporal Allan Klein, 34, of Clinton Township, Michigan, Corporal James L. Moore, 24, of Roseburg, Oregon, Lance Corporal Mourad Ragimov, 20, of San Diego, California, Lance Corporal Rhonald D. Rairdan, 20, of San Antonio, Texas, Lance Corporal Hector Ramos, 20, of Aurora, Illinois, Lance Corporal Darrell J. Schumann, 25, of Hampton, Virginia, First Lieutenant Dustin M. Shumney, 30, of Vallejo, California,
Corporal Matthew R. Smith, 24, of West Valley, Utah, Lance Corporal Joseph B. Spence, 24, of Scotts Valley, California.

All died January 26, 2005, when the CH-53E helicopter they were in crashed near Ar Rutbah, Iraq. Alaniz, Gordon, and Kimble were assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. The others were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Marine from Hampton among 31 who died in helicopter crash

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By JACK DORSEY,
Courtesy of The Virginian-Pilot
January 28, 2005

HAMPTON, VIRGINIA – Just 12 hours before he and his fellow Marines died Wednesday, in a helicopter crash in western Iraq, Lance Corporal Darrell J. Schumann had sent his photo via a computer image to his parents here.

“Three hours later he called us to say he had one more mission to do,” Retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Richmon Schumann, said Friday, shortly after receiving confirmation his son had died.

“They were excited about the prospect of moving over to rejoin their unit because they had been pulled off the main unit to fight in Fallujah.”

Darrell, 25, who joined the Marine Corps in June 2002, was a heavy machine gunner who had been in Iraq since September, preparing to end his seven-month deployment.

He had survived the fierce door-to-door fighting in the former rebel stronghold in early November and was winding down, expecting to come home in another 10 days.

He was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Expeditionary Force, from Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and was among the first to enter the battle where U.S. and coalition forces fought to rid the city of insurgents, his father said.

“They were proud of what they had done. They were so very proud of what they were able to accomplish in Fallujah.

“Charlie company was the first to reach the city and it was his company that was pushing through. They were the ones doing the door-to-door,” his father said.

“His last letter to us, which we received last week, said: ‘I do wish America could see how awesome a job we are doing over here without it being construed by the Media. It’s really an honor to be fighting along side these men,”’ he wrote.

Darrell had boarded the CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter with 29 other Marines and a Navy medic, leaving a town named Alasad, his father said. Accompanied by a second helicopter, they were near Rutbah, a town about 220 miles west of Baghdad, when they crashed about 1:20 a.m.

“They were 15 miles away from their intended location when the helicopter they were in went down in a sand storm,” according to Richmon Schumann.

“They went down at a very high rate of speed and very high rate of attack,” he said.

U.S. military officials continue to investigate and have still not said what caused the crash, although they acknowledged the helicopter had been flying in, or near, a sandstorm.

It was the deadliest single event for U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq nearly two years ago.

Darrell was the only Marine in a military family where his father served in the Air Force for more than 20 years, reaching the top of the enlisted ranks. His mother, Mary, is still on active duty at Langley Air Force Base. She too is a Chief Master Sergeant.

His wife, Nicole, remains in Hawaii where Darrell’s unit was based. They had no children. Her father also served as an Air Force Chief Master Sergeant.

Darrell had moved with the family from a former assignment in Georgia to Hampton in 1999 when his parents were transferred to Langley. He attended high school in Georgia, but worked in Colonial Williamsburg in the accounts receivable department before he enlisted in the Marines, his father said.

His brother, Richmon Schumann, 28, is a network engineer for Cox Communications.

Darrell Schumann’s remains are expected to be taken to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. No date has been announced.

Marine killed in Iraq was counting the days

Saturday, January 29, 2005

HAMPTON, Virginia — Lance Corporal Darrell J. Schumann had survived fierce door-to-door fighting and was counting down to one more mission before heading home in 10 days, his father said.

Then, on Wednesday, the Marine was killed in a deadly helicopter crash in western Iraq.

Twelve hours before his death, Schumann had sent a photo via a computer image to his parents.

“Three hours later, he called us to say he had one more mission to do,” retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richmon Schumann said shortly after receiving confirmation his son had died with 30 others in the deadliest single event for U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq nearly two years ago.

The CH-53E Super Stallion went down while transporting troops for security operations in preparation of Sunday's elections.

“They were excited about the prospect of moving over to rejoin their unit because they had been pulled off the main unit to fight in Fallujah,” the father said.

Darrell Schumann, 25, who joined the Marine Corps in June 2002, was a heavy machine gunner. He had been in Iraq since September.

Schumann was a member of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Expeditionary Force, from Marine Corps Base Hawaii. He was among the first to enter the battle where U.S. and coalition forces fought to rid Fallujah of insurgents, his father said.

“They were proud of what they had done,” Richmon Schumann told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk. “They were so very proud of what they were able to accomplish in Fallujah.

“Charlie Company was the first to reach the city, and it was his company that was pushing through. They were the ones doing the door-to-door,” his father said.

“His last letter to us, which we received last week, said: ‘I do wish America could see how awesome a job we are doing over here without it being construed by the media. It's really an honor to be fighting alongside these men.' ”

Schumann was the only Marine in a military family in which his father served in the Air Force for more than 20 years. His mother, Mary Schumann, is still on active duty at Langley Air Force Base. She, too, is a Chief Master Sergeant.

Schumann's wife, Nicole, remains in Hawaii where his unit was based. The couple had no children.

Darrell Schumann's remains are expected to be taken to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. No date for the ceremony has been announced.

4 February 2005:

Marine recalled at funeral

An Air Force family says goodbye to a son who joined the Corps and died Jan. 26 in an Iraq crash.

A day earlier, half a world away in Iraq, Marines filed past 31 rifles, helmets and sets of combat boots, stopped and knelt in the silent desert in tribute to fallen comrades.

Thursday, about 150 people – half of them in Air Force uniforms – stood in falling snow, the only sound that of going-home traffic swishing past on wet Todds Lane and Aberdeen Avenue until seven Marines from the 4th Supply Battalion of Newport News aimed rifles skyward and fired three volleys.

Then a bugler played taps over the flag-draped metal casket of Lance Corporal Darrell Schumann, who died in a helicopter crash near the Iraqi-Syrian border early Jan. 26. He was en route to Camp Korean Village to be part of the security effort for Sunday's election in Iraq.

“On January 24, Darrell called (his wife) Nicole and said, ‘Babe, I've got one more mission,' ” said Theron Lord, Schumann's father-in-law, at a lectern in Bethel Temple Assembly of God.

” ‘In nine more days, I'll be home with you.' ”

Home was Hawaii, where Schumann and Nicole Lord were married 20 months ago, and where he was stationed with C Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines until the unit was deployed to Iraq.

Home was also Hampton, where Richmon and Mary Schumann moved. They're a military family: He's a retired Air Force chief master sergeant. Mary, also a chief master sergeant, is due to retire this year from her job with the 83rd Communications Squadron at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.

The unit was well represented Thursday, and Richmon Schumann – Darrell's brother – was given a flag that flew at half-staff at Langley on January 27.

After the family moved from Warner Robins, Georgia, Darrell Schumann worked in construction and then at Colonial Williamsburg until, restless, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Schumann became a heavy machine gunner with Charlie Company. “We knew he was going to hit action,” the younger Richmon told the congregation, standing with Mary on a stage. “He always assured us that he knew what he was doing.”

Darrell Schumann's final action was at Fallujah, where Charlie Company was one of the first units in the city. In a telephone conversation, he told his father of discharging 2,500 rounds of ammunition in one firefight.

Family and friends sat together Thursday, a tight unit taking up the first three rows in front of the casket.

The rest of the congregation was scattered throughout the cavernous church.

Air Force chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Rex Carpenter advised the congregation not to be angry about a life that ended at 25.

“I think Darrell would say, ‘I've run my race, I've finished my course,' ” Carpenter said. “We grieve for the family because his course was shorter than we'd hoped for.”

The funeral lasted 62 minutes in the church, until two Marines rolled the casket from the building to the parking lot for military honors. Alongside was Sergeant Jose Agrelo of Quantico. His assignment began when he accompanied the casket from Dover, Delaware, to Hampton.

It will end this afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery, where Darrell Schumann will be buried.

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SCHUMANN, DARRELL J

  • LCPL   US MARINE CORPS
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 08/08/1979
  • DATE OF DEATH: 01/26/2005
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 8094
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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