Marine foretold his death, girlfriend says

CLEVELAND (AP) -- An Ohio Marine told his girlfriend during his third tour of duty in Iraq that it was likely he would come home early.
He had a premonition that he would die, Beth Dunkle said.
Two weeks after their conversation, on Oct. 27, Lance Cpl. Robert Eckfield Jr. died from an explosion in Saqlawiyah, Iraq.
Dunkle and nearly 100 others gathered Saturday to mourn him.
Lance Cpl. Jared J. Kremm, 24, of Hauppauge, N.Y., also was killed by the explosion, the military said. Kremm died at the scene, but Eckfield died at a nearby medical center.
Both were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Dunkle and Eckfield spent time together near the base in North Carolina before he left, she said.
Eckfield filled a motel room with rose petals, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.
Norm Taylor, Eckfield's stepfather, said he dropped out of high school but needed a diploma to join the Marines. So he enrolled at Cleveland Christian Academy and finished in eight months.
About 60 family members plan to make the trip to Arlington National Cemetery where Eckfield will be buried Tuesday.
"If there's any way that I'd want someone to remember him, it's his honor, the way he honored the military every time he put on that uniform," Eckfield's cousin, Richard Samkas, said after the service.