 Mail Tribune -- A Southern Oregon sailor who was accidentally electrocuted while working on the USS Rentz during a port call in the United Arab Emirates spent part of his childhood in Central Point.
Petty Officer 3rd Class David M. Mudge, 22, of Sutherlin, died in what the Navy called "a non-hostile accident" on Nov. 28. The ship was in Port Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
"He was a good sailor, son and sibling," said his brother, Curtis Mudge, 26.
David was the fifth of seven children of Larry and Judy Mudge. The family lived in Central Point in the mid-1990s, leaving in 1997. Curtis Mudge said the kids attended Jewett Elementary School. The family then moved north to Winston and then to Sutherlin.
David graduated from Phoenix School in Roseburg in 2005 and joined the Navy at 19, after hearing tales from a boss and his uncle and deciding he wanted to travel the world.
Most of David's time at sea was spent on the USS McClusky, his family said. He was on loan to the USS Rentz for about six months at the time of his death.
Larry said his son was a quick learner and was often pulled from his regular duties when officers needed him elsewhere or asked him to pick up a new task.
When he finished his service, David had planned to work on diesel engines in the civilian world.
==Another news story==
Associated Press -- David Mudge liked traveling, and trying new cuisines or “anything that wasn’t what he had at home,” his brother said.
Mudge joined the Navy to see the world after a childhood of listening to his uncles and other relatives share stories about serving in the military. On the USS Rentz, Mudge was able to see the ancient pyramids in Egypt, a sight that left him in awe, his brother said.
“The sheer size of them and the age of them and everything just blew him away,” Curtis Mudge said. “Pictures didn’t do it justice.”
David Mudge, 22, of Sutherlin, Ore., was killed Nov. 28 in an electrical accident aboard the USS Rentz. The ship was at Port Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, when Mudge died.
He grew up in a large, close-knit family, and he graduated from the Phoenix School in Roseburg, Ore. At age 19, he enlisted in the Navy.
“He was looking for something to do with his life that he would be able to be proud of,” said Curtis Mudge. “He always looked up to the fact that our family was military oriented.”
Mudge is survived by his parents, Larry and Judy Mudge; sisters Sarah Washburn, Allison Tomlinson and Angelica Mudge; and brothers Brian, Curtis and Jed. | 
