This Marine Can Bench Press 605 Pounds

Here’s a newspaper byline you don’t see every day: By Lance Cpl. Khoa Pelczar, 1st Marine Logistics Group

Under the headline “Camp Pendleton Marine is World Champion of the Bench Press”, the Lance Corporal checked in over the weekend to the Orange County Register‘s dedicated online section of military news with an uplifting report about Camp Pendleton colleague Sergeant David L. Douglas (pictured). Earlier this month, Douglas won his event at the Power-Lifting World Championships in Bath, England with a heave of 605 pounds.

Pelczar recounts just how far Douglas has come:

Graduating boot camp at only 145 pounds, Douglas is now standing 6-feet tall, 274 pounds, and a power-lifter world champion… “I eat, sleep, and breathe power-lifting,” said Douglas. “I still have a lot progress to make and my determination is unwavering. I plan on becoming Marine Corps Athlete of the Year and win all the major power-lifting competitions of 2011.”

During a month when another OCR Military section headline notes the seventh death of a Camp Pendleton Marine in Afghanistan this month, the article about Douglas’ athletic triumph offers some welcome reader relief. Douglas actually came close to breaking the bench press world record of 645 pounds at Bath when he was able to three-quarters raise the ridiculous load of 670 pounds.