Cpl. Antonio Mendoza

Marine Cpl. Antonio Mendoza: Mendoza was a joker who loved to go to parties. He told his girlfriend he taught Iraqis how to dance. But he took his relationship with her seriously, bringing her flowers and teddy bears and window shopping for diamond rings with her. "He used to tell my mom, 'I'm going to marry her,'" Brenda Luna said. Mendoza, 21, of Santa Ana, Calif., died June 3 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries from a Feb. 22 explosion in Ramadi. He was based at Camp Pendleton. Mendoza graduated from high school in 2002 and joined the Marines around the same time. He is survived by his mother and has family in Mexico. Luna last spoke to Mendoza on Valentine's Day, about a week before he was injured. "I told him that he needed to take care and that I love him," Luna said. "He told me not to worry."