NEWPORT NEWS, VA (AP) -- The Army has identified a soldier based in Virginia who fell overboard off a tugboat during training near the North Carolina coast.
The Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday for Spc. Samuel Valdez, a 22-year-old watercraft operator from Plant City, Fla. The Army said he was a member of the 73rd Transportation Company based at Fort Eustis.
Valdez was a crew member on the Major General Winfield Scott, a 24-person Army tugboat on its way to Charleston, S.C. to support a Navy training mission. His fall was reported Sunday morning when the vessel was about 15 miles off Drum Inlet, N.C., south of Okracoke (OH'-kuh-kohk) Island. Seas were 7 feet at the time, and by that night, they reached 12 feet.
The tug returned to Fort Eustis Tuesday.
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Information from: Daily Press, http://www.dailypress.com
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APTV 02-24-09 2056EST
