Hundreds of U.S. Marines, sailors, soldiers and civilians attended an April 18, 2006, memorial service at Camp Al Asad, Iraq, for six Marines and one sailor who died earlier this month due to a vehicle accident in western Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Following the service, some Marines, many in tears, approached the seven-rifle display to pay final respects and give final, silent ‘good-byes’ to friends lost. Some took photographs from afar of the memorial display, while others touched the boots or gripped the dog tags – eyes closed and heads bowed – to offer silent prayers. Some, like Petty Officer 1st Class David A. Pope, stared at the memorials from a distance in silence. “What a tragic loss, to lose eight good men,” said Pope, a 36-year-old from Joshua Tree, Calif., who worked with the fallen sailor and knew many of the other deceased Marines. “I was thinking of the rest of my corpsmen and how this (tragedy) will impact the rest of their lives and this deployment – how I must show them the way to move past this and get the rest of them home alive.” All seven fallen Marines and sailor were part of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1st Marine Logistics Group and died when their seven-ton truck, part of a Marine combat logistics re-supply in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, rolled over during a flash-flood April 2. A memorial service for an eighth Marine, who was with the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and was killed in the same accident, was held at the Marines’ base in Haditha last week. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin)