A Marine from one of the heaviest-hit units of the Iraq War is missing, and Cincinnati-area police are urgently asking for help locating him.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office issued a "critical missing person" alert Wednesday evening for veteran Anthony "Tony" Pastura, 33, who has not been seen since Monday.
"Anthony suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has made previous suicidal threats," police said in the statement. "Anthony is possibly operating a dark blue, 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee with an Ohio Licence Plate '169YIE'."
Officials said that he could be in central Ohio or with friends in Columbus, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Pastura served as a mortarman with Columbus-based Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, including a 2010-2011 deployment to Afghanistan. He left the Reserve as a sergeant in December 2012, according to Marine Corps officials.
One month before Pastura joined the unit, Lima 3/25 deployed to Haditha, Iraq. "Lucky Lima" lost 22 Marines and a corpsman over that deployment, 11 during a single improvised explosive device attack in August 2005.
Marine veteran Anthony “Tony” Pastura served in Iraq.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
George Wentworth, the Lima Company's corpsman during its deadly Iraq deployment, said he believes Pastura joined the Marines after one of his friends was killed in 2005 while serving with Lima Company.
"His high school best friend growing up was Nicholas Erdy who was one of our Marines that got killed in May of 2005," Wentworth told Marine Corps Times on Thursday. "If I'm not mistaken, Tony [Pastura] joined the Marine Corps after that happened as a way to honor him."
While Lima Company was in Iraq, Pastura drilled at the unit's Reserve center, where he would help with funerals for fallen Marines, Wentworth said.
"He was always very quiet — pretty calm, and I would say collected," Wentworth said. "He only spoke when he was spoken to, for the most part."
Police asked that anyone with information on Pastura call detective Kevin Manos at 513-851-6000 or CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3040.
Pastura is the recipient of the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and two Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medals.
Matthew L. Schehl covers training and education, recruiting, West Coast Marines, MARSOC, and operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Marine Corps Times. He can be reached at mschehl@marinecorpstimes.com.
