LCpl. Benjamin S. Bryan, U.S.M.C. (KIA)

Marine from Lumberton killed in fighting in Iraq

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Lance Cpl. Benjamin S. Bryan called his father in Lumberton two weeks ago to tell him he was going to start sending things home, family members said.

"He was just making the decision to explore something else," said his aunt, Patricia Meraz, told the Fayetteville Observer. "He was just really starting his life as an adult."

Bryan, 23, won't get the chance. He was among three Marines killed in fighting Saturday in Fallujah, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

Bryan liked to fish and go camping, his family said. He was quiet and an avid reader and cook, they said.

Bryan joined the Marine Corps after graduating in 2000 from Lumberton High School, where he earned several awards as a member of the school's ROTC program.

"He was determined to be a Marine," Meraz said.

She said Bryan never complained in his letters or during his phone calls back home. He liked being a Marine and had considered making it a career, but decided to leave after being deployed to Iraq for a second time, she said.

Bryan was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

No additional details about his death were immediately available.