Cpl. Nathan Alan Schubert
Born Jan. 27, 1982 in Sioux City, Iowa
Died Jan. 26, 2005 near Ar Rutbah, Iraq
Nathan was a carefree young man who lived every day to its fullest, rarely letting anything bother him. He grew up in a town of just over 5,000 people, where his childhood friends were his friends from an early age on. Nathan was not the biggest kid in school, but his determination and strength helped him become a letter winner in football, basketball and baseball. In the spring of 2001 he graduated from high school and in the late summer he started his college courses at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. The 9-11-2001 Terrorist Attacks a short time later changed most people’s lives, Nathan’s included; it inspired him to enlist in the Marine Corps the next month. Nathan had that same attitude that so many American’s had at that time, what can I do? After basic training Nathan was stationed in Hawaii, assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii. He came home to Iowa in June 2004 for his last visit home; his father had died of a brain tumor and Nathan came home for the burial. In September he deployed to Iraq and participated in some of the bloodiest battles in the Fallujah area. One particular battle was hardest on Nathan. His unit was doing door-to-door searches for insurgents and he and seven other Marines raided a house. Four of them were shot and two later died. He told his family of many of the things he saw and was part of and while he was proud of his part in helping the Iraqi people and his military service, he was bothered seeing his friends die. In late January he talked to his mother on the phone; he was exited because he was set to come home on February 4th. After all he had saw and done in Iraq, he told her he was home free. Two days later he boarded a CH-53E helicopter to help carry out a security mission for the upcoming elections. The helicopter went down in a sand storm, killing Nathan and 30 other military personnel, one day shy of his 23rd birthday. His mother, bother and a sister survived Nathan.
Nathan is buried next to his father in Galva Township East Cemetery in Galva, Iowa.
The Cpl. Nathan Alan Schubert by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
