Sunday, / September 14, 2025
Home / news

Kaddish For A Jewish Marine

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, FL

Firefighters and police officers stood at attention in a military funeral procession yesterday for Marine Cpl. Dustin Schrage. The 20-year old marine assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, was found dead May 6 in Al-Anbar Province, Iraq.

Rabbi Zvi Konikov, director of Chabad of the Space Coast, officiated at the full military funeral and told the 400 mourners that Dustin Schrage took the Hebrew name Shmuel for himself when he was named at the Torah in the Chabad Center just prior to his leave for the marines.

The Schrage family are members of Chabad of the Space Coast and close friends of the Konikovs. Dustin’s mother, Nina, had just finished helping with the preparations in the Chabad Center for the Konikov baby’s bris when she received military notification that her son was unaccounted for after a covert operation crossing the Euphrates River in Iraq. The Department of Defense has not released further details.

Schrage headed a platoon of nine men in Iraq and was praised as an excellent leader. Rabbi Konikov told mourners that Schrage, who was physically involved in the building of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Satellite Beach would be remembered for his laughter, his leadership and his sacrifice.

Chaplain Y. Goldstein was instrumental in securing proper kosher burial preparations as the body was flown into Dover.

The funeral ended with the traditional 21-gun salute and the recital of kaddish by his surviving brothers. Kali Schrage, his sister, a student of Chabad Hebrew School, wrote a moving poem/letter to G-d that was read by a friend of the family.

Comment

Be the first to write a comment.

Add

Related Articles
From the Ashes: Pacific Palisades Rebuilds
Of all the things they lost in the Los Angeles wildfires, Jessica and Michael Heshel miss their friends most.  The growing community of young parents…
Chabad Reps Graduate IDF Officers’ Course
Rabbi Netanel Ben Maas is a Chabad-Lubavitch representative in the town of Mikhmoret, Israel, a small seaside moshav located north of Netanya.  Like most Israeli…
A Catholic Priest Returns
His parents named him Sheftil Binyamin. He was born deaf and attended a Catholic school for children with special needs. In his early twenties he…
From Dealing Drugs To Writing Scrolls
It took years in and out of physiatric wards, and several close brushes with death at the hands of mafia-hitmen and street toughs before Jordan…
Newsletter
Donate
Find Your Local Chabad Center
Magazine