Michael E Bitz

Ventura, California

March 23, 2003

Michael E. Bitz was a daredevil drifter before he joined the Marines -- that's how his mother, Donna Bellman, sees it. The military turned his life around. Bitz remarried Janina and started a new family. In February, he became the father of twins he would never hold. Bitz from Ventura, Calif., and based at Camp Lejeune, was killed in combat March 23.