U.S. Marine Declared Lost at Sea After Falling Overboard from USS Iwo Jima
21-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah has been declared dead after falling overboard from the USS Iwo Jima. A massive 72-hour search involving helicopters, drones, and Navy ships failed to locate the marine.
A 21-year-old U.S. Marine was declared dead after falling overboard from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima during operations in the Caribbean Sea, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.
Lance Cpl. Chukwuemeka E. Oforah, of Florida, fell overboard on the evening of February 7, 2026. A large-scale search and rescue operation involving multiple Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force assets continued for 72 hours before being suspended on February 10. He was officially declared deceased that Tuesday.
Oforah served as a rifleman assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. At the time of the incident, he was deployed with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable).
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He enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2023, graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in February 2024, and completed the School of Infantry at Camp Lejeune before joining his unit.
The rescue operation included:
The search covered a wide area of the Caribbean Sea around the clock for three days.
Col. Tom Trimble, commanding officer of the 22nd MEU, said in an official release:
“We are all grieving alongside the Oforah family. 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 of the fall remain under investigation.
The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) has been operating in the Caribbean as part of U.S. Southern Command activities. Earlier this year, the vessel played a role in the high-profile capture and transport of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a U.S. operation on January 3.
No further details about the incident have been released pending the ongoing investigation.