Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991                   TAG: 9103210441
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: QUANTICO                                LENGTH: Short

QUANTICO DROWNING INVESTIGATED

The death Saturday of Anthony L. Marchinda, 24, of Troy, Mich., was the first such fatality at the base in recent memory, Master Sgt. Marvin Price said.

Marchinda was taking part in swimming qualification with other Marines when he was spotted floating face down in the pool. An instructor pulled him from the water and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but the Marine died about two hours later at a hospital in Fredericksburg, Price said.

Price would not identify the officer appointed to head the investigation of the death or the officer in charge of Quantico swimming programs. Marchinda was about halfway through a 10-week program for officers when he died.

An enlisted Marine stationed at Quantico drowned last summer during an off-duty, recreational outing at a reservoir just outside the base, Price said. He said the only recent training-related death occurred two months ago during a physical fitness run when a Marine suffered a heart attack.

Marchinda's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office in Richmond for an autopsy. Robert Holloway, the office's regional administrator, said Wednesday the cause of death had not been determined pending further study.

"They think it may have been a stroke or a heart attack," said Marchinda's 22-year-old brother, David. "We just don't know right now."

Keywords:
FATALITY