Marine with Maine ties killed in Kuwait crash

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A Marine reservist based in Eugene, Ore., died in a collision between two military vehicles last week in Kuwait, Pentagon officials have revealed.

Lance Cpl. Cedric E. Bruns, 22, of Vancouver, Wash., was driving a Humvee pickup truck that collided nearly head-on with a support vehicle, said 1st Sgt. Thomas Thomas of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion in Portland, Ore.

The son of Peter and Debbie Bruns of Vancouver, he was a combat engineer in a unit trained to do “anything from demolition to building,” Gunnery Sgt. Rick Nelson said.

Bruns’ girlfriend, Shanna Ehlers, said Monday she didn’t know when or where memorial services would be held. The dead Marine’s parents were not available for comment. Bruns’ grandparents, Bill and Barbara Bruns, live in Bangor, Maine.

Details of the two-vehicle accident “are still pretty sketchy,” said Lt. Col. Mike Barnes.