HUNTINGTON, N.Y. -- Capt. Michael J. Ohler, a Long Island native, was identified by the Pentagon Monday as the seventh Marine in the multinational peace-keeping force to die in Lebanon.
Ohler, 28, was killed Sunday and five other Marines were wounded during skirmishes with Moslem militia in slums north of the American positions, Pentagon officials said.
The captain's death brought the Marine losses to seven dead and 56 wounded. Six Marines were killed in combat, including two since the cease-fire in Beirut went into force Sept. 26 and one died in an accident clearing minefields.
Ohler, who commanded a unit of the peace-keeping force, went to Beirut last May and was due to rotate out of Lebanon in December, said Capt. Jay Farrar, a Marine spokesman.
The marine was born and grew up in Huntington, N.Y., Farrar said. He attended Cold Springs Harbor High School and graduated from the school in 1973 before entering the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
The body was to be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware later this week and Ohler's wife would make arrangements for the funeral, Farrar said.
Ohler's wife, Marian Gail, lives in Pensacola, Fla. with the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Sarah Marie. Mrs. Ohler's parent's live nearby, Farrar said.
Listed as father J.C. and mother M.G., Ohler's parents moved from Huntington and currently reside in San Diego, Calif., Farrar said.
Ohler graduated from the Naval Academy in 1977 with a degree in mathematics and received a commission in the marines as a second lieutenant, Farrar said.
He attended naval aviator training in Pensacola, Fla., in early 1978 and graduated from the program in December 1979, allowing him to take an assignment at the New River, N.C., air station, Farrar said.
In January, Ohler was assigned to the First Battalion, Eighth Marine regiment as an Air Liaison Officer in Camp LeJeune, N.C., Farrar said.
