Marine declared lost at sea after falling overboard from Navy warship in Caribbean

A 21-year-old Marine who died after falling overboard from the USS Iwo Jima last week is believed to be the first U.S. casualty from ongoing military operations in the Caribbean Sea.

Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, a Florida resident, was reported to have fallen overboard on Saturday. Despite a 72-hour rescue mission involving nearly a dozen military aircraft and five ships, his body was not recovered. 

He was pronounced dead on Tuesday, Marine Corps officials said Thursday.

“We are all grieving alongside the Oforah family,” Col. Tom Trimble, commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement. “The loss of Lance Cpl. Oforah is deeply felt across the entire Navy-Marine Corps team. He will be profoundly missed, and his dedicated service will not be forgotten.”

The circumstances that led to the incident remain under investigation. Marine officials said a photo of him was not available.

Lance Cpl. Oforah was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment at Marina Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

The Iwo Jima is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship designed to transport, deploy and support Marine combat forces. It’s the flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group and serves as the central hub for U.S. naval operations in the Caribbean.

The warship is the base for Operation Southern Spear, a high-intensity campaign to disrupt transnational criminal networks in the region. The Iwo Jima has been the launch platform for aircraft and helicopters that have been used to intercept, and in some cases destroy, boats believed to be involved in narcotics trafficking.

The Iwo Jima also played a pivotal role in Operation Absolute Resolve, the Jan. 3 raid on Caracas that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s former leader, and his wife. It was the primary extraction point for the mission and was a secure holding space for processing before the couple’s transport to the U.S., where they have been indicted on narcotics and terrorism-related charges.

Lance Cpl. Oforah was an infantry rifleman who enlisted in the Marines in October 2023. He graduated from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina, in February 2024.