The death of Lance Cpl. Dale G. Peterson, 20, added to a brutal toll Monday in Iraq for North Carolina troops: Nine soldiers from Fort Bragg were killed the same day in a truck bombing in Diyala province.
Peterson, raised in Burns, Ore., was killed by an improvised explosive device, relatives in Oregon told The Associated Press.
He attended the small alternative high school education program at the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council in Redmond, a teacher there said in an interview with The News & Observer on Wednesday.
"He was a great kid, really friendly and open and had a great sense of humor," Georgia Hendricks said.
He was a good student and a particularly good writer, she said. After learning of Peterson's death, she gave his father, Greg, an essay in which the young man had described the importance of the values he had learned from his family, what he had learned from his church youth group and his desire to join the Marines.
He decided to enroll in the alternative-education program -- which has just two teachers and about 65 students -- because Redmond High School was so crowded that it was hard to get much individual attention, she said.
"It really hit us hard," she said. "Such a vibrant young man, just full of life."
He was assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
According to the AP, he joined the Marines after graduating in 2005 and a brief stint in construction work. A sister who lives in Boise, Idaho, told the wire service her brother was the second-youngest of four siblings, the rest all sisters.
"Our world revolves around each other," said Melissa Davies, 23. "We talk to each other every day."
She said her brother had been in Iraq for less than a month.
Family members told The Oregonian newspaper that his wife, Regina "Reggie" Peterson, is also a Marine.