Friends of Shane Childers say that from an early age, he was the epitome of a model Marine, polite and kind, strong in mind and body with a love of his family and country.

Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Therrel Shane Childers was among the first two American combat casualties in Iraq on Friday. Childers graduated from Harrison Central High School in 1990 while living in Saucier. He was 30 and single.

"Growing up, he was one of those guys that was just a good person," said Mollie Norman, 26, who knew him growing up in Saucier and now lives in Long Beach. "He was good to kids and dogs, you know. That kind of person. He'd do anything for you, and he was always like that, even as a child."

Childers' father was a Navy Seabee, but he decided to join the Marines. He enlisted following his graduation from Harrison Central.

In 1998, he was accepted in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) and attended The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

There, he was a French major and was a Dean's List student and graduated in 2001.

"As an MECEP, Therrel Childers served as an excellent role model for our cadets," said former Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John S. Grinalds, The Citadel's president. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time."

Childers was an infantry officer and a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif., and was part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The 1st MEF suffered the first two casualties in Iraq. Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, of Los Angeles also was killed Friday.

One of them was shot in the stomach while their company was advancing on a burning oil pump station in the Rumeila oil field, according to an Associated Press story. The other was killed while fighting Iraqi forces near Umm Qasr, the strategic port, also in southern Iraq.

"It was a combat death due to hostile fire," said Capt. Joe Kloppel, public affairs officer for Marine headquarters.

Childers' parents, Joseph and Judy Childers, have moved to Powell, Wyo. They were in Texas visiting his sister and were not available for comment Saturday as they traveled back home.

His loss was still being felt in South Mississippi, however.

"He was conscientious, I remember after all these years," said James Cater, the 62-year-old principal of Harrison County High School who taught Childers geometry. "This really hurts. It hurts when any serviceman is killed, but Shane was one of our own. It just touches everybody."

"My husband's over there. I haven't heard from him, so it makes it real personal," said Norman, whose husband left for the Middle East with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 on Tuesday. "When you hear there's been a death, you pray it's not your husband. Then you find out it's one of your childhood friends; it's kind of mixed emotions."