By By Adam Prestridge
Family and friends continue to mourn the death of 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Bruce "Bubba" Ferrell Jr., a Marine from Perdido, who is being celebrated as a "hero" by residents in the small north Baldwin County community.
Family was notified Tuesday of Ferrell's tragic death in Afghanistan. According to published reports, military officials found Ferrell's body after the Humvee he was traveling in drove over or beside an improvised explosive device, or IED, detonating it Sunday evening while he was on patrol, supporting combat operations in Helmand province.
Ferrell had only been in Afghanistan for three months after being deployed in May. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, at least 706 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. Of those, the military reports 532 were killed by hostile action.
Information on this story was not available as of press time Tuesday evening. More information on this story will be released, as it is available.