Marine from state dies at hospital in Germany

Gentry native, 19, served on Nimitz

A 19-year-old Marine from Arkansas died Sunday at a U.S.-operated military hospital in Germany, according to a Department of Defense news release.

Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Tuttle, of Gentry, died at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center after a medical evacuation from the USS Nimitz, the aircraft carrier he was deployed on.

The news release sent out Tuesday didn’t disclose the cause of death, but said the death is under investigation — a normal procedure by the Defense Department when an active-duty service member dies.

Tuttle was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with his unit — the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California.

1st Lt. Chad Hill, a spokesman with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, didn’t have details of Tuttle’s injuries Tuesday afternoon. He said Tuttle’s unit was deployed somewhere in the Navy’s 5th Fleet area of responsibility, which covers the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and coast off East Africa as far south as Kenya.

The USS Nimitz was scheduled to dock at a port somewhere in that area when an emergency air medical evacuation of Tuttle took place. Tuttle was flown to the military hospital in Landstuhl where he died. Hill was not sure how long Tuttle had been at the hospital before his death.

According to Tuttle’s last post on his Facebook page May 28, he expected to return home in October.

“Lots of love goes back home to my family, i miss all of you[.] I should be home in October,” he wrote. “[I] cant wait to see all of you, uncle mike we will have to go fishing, little brother we will have to hang out, and granny we will have to go out to dinner together, and as for the rest of the family, i can’t wait to see all of you too. Love Ben [sic]”