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Captain, lieutenant die in Afghanistan combat

Two Marine officers were killed Tuesday in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department.

Capt. Jesse Melton III, 29, of Randallstown, Md., and 1st Lt. Nicholas A. Madrazo, 25, of Bothell, Wash., died supporting combat operations in Parwan province. Melton’s mother told The (Baltimore) Sun that a sailor and an Afghan interpreter also died in the roadside bomb blast.

Melton was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 12th Marines, III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan. A communications officer, he and his team were working to train members of the Afghan army, The Sun reported.

Melton’s drill instructors at basic training recommended him for Officer Candidate School, his sister told The Sun. It was during OCS training that he earned his degree in communications from Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.

“He was a man of honor and a servant leader,” Melton’s mother told The Sun. “He knew there were missions to do and work to do, and for the greater good, he was a Marine all the way.”

Madrazo was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 37, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, out of Okinawa.

“Nic loved what he was doing,” his uncle, Oliver Feeback, told the Everett, (Wash.) Herald on Thursday. “He believed in what he was doing, and Nic gave the ultimate sacrifice for his family, friends and his country.”

As a tribute, fellow Marines and other troops lined the streets of Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, as Madrazo’s body was taken to a transport plane for the flight back to the U.S., according to the Herald. Madrazo’s commanding officer told his mother by phone that Marines stood shoulder to shoulder with Afghan troops, French soldiers and local Afghans who had come to know him.