HARRISBURG, Pa. "Rep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday following complications from gallbladder surgery. He was 77.

Rep. Bob Brady, a longtime friend, said the late congressman's large intestine was damaged during surgery and an infection led him to be hospitalized with a fever.

"There will never be another Jack Murtha," Brady said. "He went out on top of his game."

The Pennsylvania Democrat died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., where he was admitted on Jan. 31. The gallbladder surgery was performed days earlier at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., which didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.