Marine Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Channell, 36, of Tuscaloosa, Ala. was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade based in Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was killed April 22, 2003, near Kut, Iraq when an Iraqi rocket-propelled grenade launcher malfunctioned.

CWO2 Channell grew up in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1986, at age 19, after graduating from Brookwood High School.

He married his high school sweetheart, Joyce Middlebrooks. They settled down at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and had a daughter, Bethany, in 1999.

“Rob was a Marine. He lived it and studied it. It was an honor for him,” said his stepfather Mark Sutton, “He was proud to be a Marine. He was proud to be an American. The reason he joined the Marines was to fight for our freedom.”

He was also proud to be from Alabama. He had a dog named Bama and planned to pursue a business degree at UA with the tuition provided by the USMC.

CWO2 Channell is survived by his wife, Joyce and daughter, Bethany.