U.S. Marine Corps Major Megan McClung, 34, of Coupeville, WA, WAS assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, I MEF, Camp Pendleton, Cali. She died December 6, 2006, while escorting Newsweek journalists into downtown Ramadi when a massive improvised explosive device destroyed her Humvee, instantly killing McClung and two others.

While in high school and college, Maj McClung competed as a gymnast. She was also a triathlete (having competed in six Ironman competitions) and a marathoner.

Maj McClung graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned in 1995. She served on active duty until 2004, when she entered the Reserves. She joined Kellogg, Brown, and Root, an American engineering and construction company and worked in Iraq as a private contractor. In 2006, she returned to active duty with the Marines and was deployed to Iraq as a public affairs officer with the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Major Megan McClung was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on December 19, 2006. Her headstone bears a phrase she coined while training military personnel on how to conduct interviews with the press: “Be Bold. Be Brief. Be Gone.”