Marine Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea

Died September 14, 2004 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

38, of Washington, D.C.; assigned to 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Sept. 14 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

Marine becomes highest-ranking officer killed in Iraq

Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. — A few months before he was scheduled to come home from Iraq, Maj. Kevin Shea was killed by rocket fire in Anbar province. It was his 38th birthday.

Shea, who grew up in Seattle, died Tuesday. His family says he would have returned home to California in November with a promotion to lieutenant colonel. Dan Shea said his brother will be posthumously promoted, making him the highest ranking Marine to have died in the Iraq war.

“We thought he’s turned the corner in terms of risk,” said Dan Shea, “But from day one there was risk, and he knew it.”

Shea had been nominated last month for a Bronze Star with Valor. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy before joining the Marine Corps. He fought in the first Gulf War, and taught and coached rugby at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Shea was promoted to the rank of major in 1999 and earned a master of science degree in electrical engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.