A Marine security guard stationed within the capital of the Republic of Congo died on Dec. 19 whereas on obligation, based on his dad and mom.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas Maurice Dural, 20, of Lafayette, Louisiana, had been serving on the U.S. embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, since April.
Dalton Dural, the Marine’s father, stated Saturday he couldn’t present extra specifics about his son’s dying.
In response to a Marine Corps Occasions question about Nicholas Dural’s dying, a State Division spokesperson on Friday confirmed the death of a U.S. service member within the Republic of Congo however declined to remark additional. The Marine Corps didn’t reply over the weekend to a Marine Corps Occasions request for remark.
For the Dural household, the lack of the younger Marine is “unimaginable,” stated his mom, Kimberly Dural.
“He’s among the finest individuals I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Dalton Dural stated. “His coronary heart was so good. And I’m not saying that as a result of he’s my son. It’s what I noticed and skilled.”
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Nicholas Dural adored his two sisters, they usually adored him, his dad and mom stated. At household gatherings, his cousins would flock to him, the way in which “little geese comply with a mama duck,” based on Kimberly Dural.
Lengthy decided to change into a Marine, Nicholas Dural was poised to ship off in addition camp proper after highschool. However his sisters cried a lot concerning the prospect of his leaving for the Marines that he opted to go to school as a substitute.
When school didn’t work out, he spent a while engaged on tugboats on the Mississippi River, based on his mom.
In the future, Kimberly Dural came upon her son was headed in addition camp as a result of a letter arrived at her home from his job, noting he had resigned to affix the Marines. He hadn’t instructed anybody, as a result of he hadn’t wished anybody to speak him out of it, she stated.
Nicholas Dural was a squad chief in boot camp, and at commencement drill instructors and new Marines alike got here as much as his dad and mom to reward him for his management, based on Kimberly Dural.
Nicholas Dural pursued the infantryman army occupational specialty as a result of he was drawn to the delight of the job, he instructed reporters in April.
“I wished to be the tip of the spear,” he stated. “I wished to be the very best of the very best.”
However his very first job within the Marine Corps was as a Marine embassy safety guard, based on his mom.
Marine security guards serve at U.S. embassies and consulates, protecting the people and labeled info housed there.
In April, after finishing the nine-week embassy safety guard coaching at Quantico, Virginia, Dural was lunching at a Virginia Chick-fil-A with Cpl. John Darby and Cpl. Bradley Feldkamp when some teenagers there bought right into a brawl.
Because the three Marines tried to defuse the state of affairs, Dural noticed one of many teenagers whip out a knife, he instructed reporters in an April interview.
His instincts kicked in. He grabbed and twisted the wrist of {the teenager} who was holding the knife, making use of a lot stress to the highest of the blade that the knife snapped in two.
Then Dural went to get a haircut — and didn’t inform his barber what had simply occurred.
“He by no means did issues for the accolades,” Kimberly Dural stated. “He did issues as a result of he knew what was proper.”
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Nicholas Dural liked being within the Republic of Congo, liked seeing a brand new a part of the world and assembly new individuals, his dad and mom stated.
He stored busy: He was enrolled in school on-line, learning psychology, based on his mom. He organized the embassy’s Marine Corps birthday ball in November.
So long as Dalton Dural lives, he stated, he’ll keep in mind the way in which his son cared about different individuals and got down to make them be ok with themselves.
“He would arise for the underdog,” the daddy stated. “He would arise for anyone that wanted assist.”
Within the April interview about intervening within the Chick-fil-A combat, Nicholas Dural instructed reporters he wished to be an embassy guard so he may very well be “a peaceful that folks see.”
“I wish to be that sturdy individual that anyone can belief,” he stated. “I’ve at all times wished to try this. I used to be like that for my sisters after I grew up with them, and I might love to try this for the remainder of the world.”
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