Marine died of infection 4 months after bomb blast in Afghanistan

Waterbury Marine Dies Four Months After Bomb Blast

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY

December 11, 2009


On Monday, in his Texas hospital room, the gravely ill Cpl. Xhacob LaTorre of Waterbury received a Purple Heart for the wounds he suffered in August from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, he died of his injuries.

The Marine leaves behind his wife, Frances, and a 1½-year-old son, Javier. A 2005 graduate of Crosby High School in Waterbury, LaTorre was in the ROTC program. He would have turned 21 Saturday.

LaTorre's legs were severely injured when an improvised, explosive device detonated in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on Aug. 10. The bomb instantly killed a fellow Marine who had been on foot patrol with LaTorre, said his aunt, Carmen LaSalle.

His legs had to be amputated, LaSalle said. LaTorre had made progress, though, and was talking and eating at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio within weeks of his injury, she said.

Then infection set in, and his condition worsened, LaSalle said. When he was conscious, he screamed in pain, she said.

LaSalle, who helped her sister raise LaTorre, flew to see him for Thanksgiving. He was in bad shape, she said, and other family members flew in to say goodbye. He died at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday.
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Waterbury Marine Dies Four Months After Bomb Blast