RENO, NV, US
U.S. Marine Corps
SGT, 2D BN 9TH MAR, (RCT-1, I MEF FWD), 2D MAR DIV, CAMP LEJEUNE, NC
10/11/2010, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
A Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marine was killed Monday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Marine Corps announced late Tuesday. Frank R. Zaehringer III, 23, died while on patrol in Helmand
He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Lejeune.
Claudia Zaehringer of Reno said Tuesday that her nephew was fatally wounded after an improvised explosive device went off. The son of Sharon and Frank Zaehringer Jr., the Marine graduated from Wooster High School in 2005 and joined the Marines in 2007. Claudia Zaehringer said her nephew had wanted to become a Marine since he was a teenager.
“Nobody could talk him out of it,” she said. “He would run around with a backpack filled with rocks just to get in shape for boot camp.”
His mother, Sharon Zaehringer, said her son joined the Marines in 2007 “to help those who could not help themselves.”
The Marine had served in Iraq in 2009 and left in July for his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, his aunt said.
“It was a seven-month tour so he was due to come back in February,” she said. “He already had reupped for four more years [while] in Afghanistan.”
Frank Zaehringer III is survived by his wife, Cassie; his parents; and his sister, Nicole. His parents were traveling to Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Tuesday to retrieve his remains.