Family flies out to D.C. to meet him today
By Susanne Nadeau
Herald Staff Writer
A Grand Forks man is in serious condition after the Humvee he manned drove
over a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, over the weekend, according to his
father.
Lance Cpl. Ben Lunak, 21, took shrapnel to his stomach and back and may lose
part of his leg, his father, former City Council member Duane Lunak, said
Monday.
The young man was bound and determined to head overseas, his father said. He
traveled with his company, the Lima Company, part of the 3rd Battalion of
the Marine Corps, to Iraq shortly after breaking three bones in his ankle,
Duane Lunak said.
"He loved what he was doing," Lunak said.
Lunak and his ex-wife, Cindy, will head to Washington, D.C., with their
24-year-old daughter today to wait for their son, who is expected to be
transferred there from Germany, where he is being treated for his wounds.
Lunak said his son's condition must stabilize before he can be moved.
Although Lunak did not know the details surrounding the incident, he said he
was told two other Marines were killed.
"They were patrolling on the Humvee. Ben was on top; he was blown out of
there. The other two, his friends, they didn't make it," he said.
Wisconsin man dies
Separately, the Duluth News Tribune reported Monday that a Superior, Wis.,
Marine was killed by a roadside bomb Saturday in Ramadi.
Military officials hadn't publicly confirmed Lunak's injury or the death of
Lance Cpl. Adam Van Alstine, 21, of Superior, as of Monday night, so it was
not possible to know if the two were involved in the same attack.
Van Alstine's family told the News Tribune that three other members of his
unit were injured.
"All I know is that he was on patrol. We don't know what happened," Van
Alstine's sister, Dawn "Dee" Meyers, said in a phone interview with the News
Tribune.
Van Alstine was a gunner on a Humvee, but the squad may have been out of the
vehicle when the bomb exploded, friends and family members said.
Marine Corps officials told Meyers of her brother's death Saturday evening
at her Cottage Grove, Minn., home.
Van Alstine's mother died in 2003 at the age of 46, just months before his
graduation from Superior High School. Van Alstine's father died before he
was born.
More than 2,290 Americans have died in the Iraq conflict since the beginning
of the war in March 2003. Nearly 30,000 Iraqi civilians are estimated to
have died as a result of hostilities.
'Doing fine'
Ben Lunak has been active in Iraq for the past four months, according to his
father. He's been stationed near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, his father said.
The two have kept in good touch, speaking on the phone several times a week
and sending e-mail.
Ben Lunak left two voice-mails at his father's home Thursday.
"He said not to worry, he was doing fine," Duane said, his voice breaking
with worry. "He's my best friend."
A 2002 graduate of Red River High School, Lunak joined the Marines in 2004
and completed training in San Diego and Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base,
Calif., his father said.
He was promoted to lance corporal fairly quickly, his father said.
"He could take pretty good care of himself," Lunak said.
Lunak heard the news that his son was wounded on Sunday. He's flying out for
Washington, D.C., this afternoon.
"I just hope he's there when I get there," he said.