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Services Pending for Covenanter Killed in Iraq
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 25, 2005) - The newlywed husband of a 1998 North Park
University (NPU) graduate was killed in Iraq Sunday when a device
exploded near Baghdad.
Army Sgt. Russell Verdugo was a member of a U.S. Army bomb squad and
reportedly had just stepped out of his vehicle to investigate a
suspicious device when it exploded, said John Benson, pastor of
Community Covenant Church in Springfield, Virginia. Three other soldiers
were injured.
Verdugo joined the Army in 1993 and had served in Afghanistan before
being deployed to Iraq in early January. He belonged to the 767
Ordinance Company, 63rd Ordinance battalion, 62 ordinance group, and had
been home several months before being sent to Iraq.
Russell and Kari Youngberg Verdugo were married last Thanksgiving
weekend at Manistee Covenant Church in Manistee, Michigan. Kari
graduated from NPU in 1998 with a bachelor degree in elementary
education and is a teacher at George Mason Elementary School in
Alexandria, Virginia. Her parents, Merton and Jeanne Youngberg, both
graduated from NPU in 1964.The couple initially intended to get married
around this time of year, but decided to have the wedding before he left
for duty. He was scheduled to return in about a month.
Benson said that the Springfield congregation already had planned a
special Memorial Day service because a large number of the attendees are
retired military. This year, "It will be more poignant," Benson noted.
Verdugo was the first attendee from the church to be killed in Iraq.
Service arrangements are pending.
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