Marine Colonel Dies From Iraq Injuries

Cause of Md. Military Lawyer's Wounds 'Non-Hostile,' but Few Details Released

A Marine colonel and military lawyer from Chevy Chase died Sunday of injuries he suffered in Iraq this summer, making him one of the highest-ranking officers to have died in the war, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

Col. Michael R. Stahlman, 45, was injured July 31 in a "non-hostile" incident in Anbar province, military officials said. "Non-hostile incident" is the military term for deaths unrelated to combat, such as from illness, accident, suicide or homicide. Defense officials said Stahlman's death is under investigation but is not believed to be a homicide; they did not elaborate.

Two friends said Stahlman suffered a gunshot wound and never regained consciousness. A family member who spoke on condition of anonymity said relatives have been told few details about how he was injured.

Stahlman died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda after he underwent brain surgery in August and battled a systemic infection recently, friends said.

He served last year as an investigating officer -- similar to a judge -- in a preliminary military court hearing for a Marine lieutenant accused and later acquitted of obstructing the investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. A defense official said Stahlman's death did not appear to be related to his legal role in that case.

A 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Stahlman was assigned to Headquarters Battalion at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., academy and defense officials said. He left for Iraq in February for what was supposed to be a tour of about a year, friends said.

The family member said Stahlman grew up around the world -- his father worked for the U.S. Foreign Service -- and admired the Marines who guarded U.S. embassies. His family, including an older brother and sister, lived in Chevy Chase from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, said the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the family wanted Stahlman's wife, Kim, to speak publicly about him.

Kim Stahlman did not return a phone call yesterday, and her father declined to speak by phone from his Connecticut home. Friends said Michael Stahlman is also survived by the couple's two daughters: Piper, 7, and MacKenna, 11.

Although Michael Stahlman grew up throughout the Middle East and Central America, friends said he considered Chevy Chase his home town.

"It was a touchstone for him," said Joe Matza, 45, a North Carolina financial planner and Naval Academy classmate.

Stahlman attended the Naval Academy after graduating high school from a private military academy in Texas, Matza said.

"He set tremendously high standards for himself," Matza said. "He excelled at everything -- academics, athletics -- and he made it look easy. Whatever we did, he was number one, and he didn't even break a sweat."

For all his accomplishments, Matza said, Stahlman had almost no ego.

"He got to the Naval Academy and was already in ship-shape," said Rick Camacho, 46, another academy classmate who lives in New Jersey. "He was a very motivated, great student -- very smart and very patriotic. He was someone you knew was going to devote his life to the military."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.