Coast Guard Damage Controlman 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal, 24, of Smithtown, N.Y.; was assigned to Tactical Law Enforcement Team South Detachment 403, aboard the patrol coastal Firebolt, forward deployed to Manama, Bahrain, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; He was killed in action on April 24, 2004 in a waterborne attack in the northern Persian Gulf. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 60 Site 7978. An account of the attack is included in an issue of the Coast Guard Reserve magazine... In the early evening hours of April 24, a dhow (a lateen-rigged Arabian vessel) approached an oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. Bruckenthal, trained as both a boarding team member and boarding officer, was accompanied by one other Coast Guardsman and five sailors from the United States Navy. The group boarded a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), taking off in pursuit. As the crew was poised to board the dhow, an explosion was detonated. Two Navy petty officers also died as a result of the waterborne attack: PO1 Michael J. Pernaselli, 27, of Monroe, N.Y., and PO2 Christopher E. Watts, 28, of Knoxville, Tenn. Injured were three Navy sailors and BM3 Joseph T. Ruggiero, USCG, 23, from Revere, Mass., who received the Purple Heart. Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi of Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. Awards and decorations: Bruckenthal was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Purple Heart, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. On his first Persian Gulf deployment he was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon. He is the namesake of the Sentinel-class cutter Nathan Bruckenthal (WPC-1128)., stationed in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.