Brigette Brown still has the makings of a care package she meant to send to her son, Lance Cpl. Dominic Brown, in Iraq.

"I was fixing to send it when we got the word on Dominic," said the Anderson Mill resident. "I was going to send him some John Grisham books. He wanted his red licorice, some Goldfish (crackers). He wanted pictures from home. . . . I just never got it sent."

Just days before she planned to put the package in the mail, she learned that her 19-year-old son had died two weeks into his seven-month deployment. Brown, a Marine who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died Sept. 13 from noncombat injuries near Anbar province.

Marine officials would not release any details about his death, and it is still under investigation.

Brown, who once worked at a local Jiffy Lube, was a motor transportation operator assigned to Camp Pendleton's Headquarters Company, 1st Marine Division.

About 350 friends and relatives remembered Brown at his funeral Wednesday at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Northwest Austin.

"He was loving, friendly, hard- working, energetic," his mother said. She recalled that he aspired to join the Marines from a very young age and joined shortly after graduating from Round Rock's Westwood High School last year.

"Anything he ever did, he did 100 percent," she said. "He was a great artist. He loved art. He was great at drawing. He felt things from the heart."

Linda Alderman said she remembers her son's best friend as a principled, determined and patriotic young man. Her son Andy, 19, is also a Marine stationed in Iraq.

"Andy said to me, and Dominic said to his mother, that he was willing to die for his country," she said through tears. "I think that's a Marine virtue. It was worth it to them."

Friends from Westwood, where an art scholarship has been set up in Brown's name, said he was well-liked and always willing to help his friends.

"There were plenty of girls who had crushes on him," said Christina Srisen, 19, who had known Brown since sixth grade. "He flirted all the time with all the girls. He was just a goofy person. He always made you laugh."

"He was very young, very motivated," said Staff Sgt. Jose Cansino, who attended the funeral with a group of Marines. "He stood out from other Marines. He was unique. He could've done something with his life."

Brown joined the Marine Corps less than four months after graduating. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

"It brings the war into our community," Westwood Principal Becky Donald said. "It's very real. It's very close. And it hurts."

More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Nearly a quarter of them were Marines.

The Aldermans said that discontent over the war in Iraq has diminished the achievements and sacrifices of soldiers like Brown and their son.

"This man at the pool the other day told me, 'Those boys are dying for nothing,' " Linda Alderman said. "And I thought, 'How insensitive.' That's not helpful for people that really have a stake over there."

Brown said she doesn't begrudge the loss of her son.

"Everything was for a just cause. . . . I would never have taken the Marine Corps away from him," she said. "I would have loved to hug him one more time. But he died doing what he wanted to do."