A Marine from Edgewater has died in Afghanistan, defense officials said Wednesday.
Sgt. Julian C. Chase, 22, died Monday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.
Chase was assigned to the 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan.
Chase joined the Marines after graduating in 2008 from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington. He told The Washington Times in 2009 that he "wanted to serve."
A great-great-grandfather fought for the Union at Antietam. One grandfather served in the Pacific during World War II; the other served in the occupation forces in Germany after the war.
Chase told The Times that he joined the Marines because he "didn't like the idea of going straight to college and didn't want to waste my or my parent's money," and because it was the "best way to make a career."
He spoke of applying to the corps' Enlisted Commissioning Education Program to become an officer.
Chase is the fourth service member from Maryland killed this year, and the third to die in Afghanistan.
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