Cpl. Jarrod L. Maher., U.S.M.C. (NCD)

IMOGENE - Not a week after Army Sgt. James Kearney of Emerson was laid to rest, the Department of Defense reported another southwest Iowa soldier was killed in the Middle East.

Cpl. Jarrod L. Maher, 21, of Imogene died Friday of a non-hostile gunshot wound at Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of Baghdad. The DOD Web site lists his death as being under investigation.

A 2002 Shenandoah High School graduate, Maher left for the Marine Corps boot camp a month after graduation. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Maher became the 17th Iowan to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the second within two weeks. Sgt. Kearney was killed near Sharan, Afghanistan, after his vehicle was hit by small-arms fire and a rocket-propelled grenade.

Maher was last home in May and always made sure to stop by the school, said his former high school principal Chris Heslinga.

"When he came back on leave, he'd visit his family first, then he'd come by the school to talk with the faculty members and students," Heslinga said. "He'd talk about what was going on. He was very proud of what he was doing."

Heslinga described Maher as a "very kind, compassionate young man, someone who was very polite and was someone who respected his family."

Maher did well academically during his high school years, finishing in the top 15 percent of his class, Heslinga said.

"He was very focused on what he wanted to do," she said.

By the time Maher was a senior, Heslinga said, he knew what he wanted to do. "He knew he wanted to go into the military."

Maher was deployed Jan. 17, 2003, and arrived in Kuwait Feb. 24 aboard the USS Dubuque.

Heslinga said students met with their homeroom teachers today, and area counselors were brought in to help deal with the grieving students.

Hackett-Livingston Funeral Home in Shenandoah will handle the funeral arrangements, which are currently pending.

The Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Public Affairs Office was not open by press time.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report