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The military confirmed Saturday that two Minnesotans were among 10 Marines killed and 11 injured by a roadside bomb while on a foot patrol near Fallujah, in the deadliest attack against American forces in Iraq in four months.
Lance Cpl. Scott Modeen, 24, was a 2000 graduate of Cooper High School in New Hope. Cpl. Anthony McElveen, 21, was a 2003 graduate of Little Falls High School. They were the 29th and 30th Minnesotans to die in the Mideast in connection with the war in Iraq.
It was apparently Minnesota's second costliest day of the war, Three National Guard members died Feb. 21 when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
Both Modeen and McElveen were on their second tours of duty in Iraq and served with deep pride, relatives and friends said.
The Marines said they were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, their unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
According to the Morrison County Record, McElveen, the son of Tom and Deb McElveen of Little Falls, married Carrie Cluka, also a Little Falls High School graduate, on Feb. 20, and she is serving in the Navy.
Randy Tabatt, who was McElveen's social studies teacher at Little Falls High School, described McElveen as a mature young man, determined to do what it took to be a Marine.
"You could just see the pride and the focus he had," Tabatt said.
Tabatt said McElveen returned to school several times after graduation to report on his progress in the Marines.
"He was fantastic," Tabatt said. "He was in tiptop shape and very proud to be serving his country. The kids were absolutely mesmerized with the way that he carried himself."
Tabatt last spoke with him in June when McElveen's younger sister graduated.
"I was always happy to have him come back and talk to us because he really was a fantastic man," Tabatt said. "He was friends with everybody that met him."
Dwight Nelson, McElveen's band instructor, said his former student, who played alto saxophone, was not quiet but kept a little to himself as a student. He was a pretty good musician but divided his time between playing goalie on the school hockey team and his martial arts hobbies.
"He had the whole place spellbound" when he returned to talk to students, Nelson said. McElveen brought maps of Iraq and gave students a history lesson about the country as well as explaining what he did and what he witnessed while in Iraq.
Nelson said his students were devastated to learn Friday of McElveen's death. The band instructor and his students plan to dedicate their Dec. 13 concert to McElveen.
"I think it brought a whole new perspective on life to the kids," Nelson said. "We heard about the 2,000-plus deaths (of military personnel in Iraq) but when you hear it is someone you know and worked with, it hits the kids hard. Everybody is just a name and a face on the news but all of a sudden it's someone they met just a few months ago and he's not here anymore."
The discipline he learned in the marching band won him compliments from superiors in basic training, Nelson said. On one of his trips home, Nelson said, McElveen thanked him for what he had taught him.
Tony Couture, McElveen's high school hockey coach, said McElveen flourished in the Marines.
"He just kind of blossomed into a very outstanding person, one that you would like to call your own," Couture said. "He was a very likable kid, a very hardworking kid. He could take a bad situation and turn it into a positive one. He was very competitive on the ice and in the classroom."
Modeen enlisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Scott was the kind of person who could make you laugh whenever you were around him," a statement from his family said. "After 9/11, he joined the Marines and was proud to be defending our freedom. He was proud to be a Marine."
Sam Fedo, of Forest Lake, Modeen's brother-in-law, said Modeen chose the Marines over because he said he wanted to be with the foremost branch of the military.
"In his own words, he said if he was gonna go in, he was gonna go in with the top set of forces," Fedo said. "He wanted to be the best."
Fedo said Modeen had nine brothers and sisters and was the nephew of 26 aunts and uncles. He said Modeen's parents "were extremely proud of him" and "would speak with him any chance they could get."
Every week, relatives sent him packages that often included his favorite Snickers candy bars, and wrote him letters daily.
Fedo said Modeen didn't express any fear about returning to Iraq for his second tour of duty in July. He had ended a seven-month tour in September 2004.
"He was ready to go back and be with his fellow Marines," Fedo said.
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