Edgar Edelberto Lopez, Marines, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Edgar Edelberto Lopez, 27

Marines, Sergeant
Based: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: August 28, 2004
Babil province, Iraq
Married, 2 children
Gender: Male
Hometown: Los Angeles
Burial: Los Angeles National Cemetery, Westwood

Lopez, a 27-year-old sergeant, was killed in enemy action Aug. 28 in Iraq's Babil province, according to the Defense Department. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

Military officials gave his wife few details except that he was killed while trying to help Marines under attack. "The only thing they said was there was an explosion, and he was in one of the first vehicles in his unit," she said. "When he turned back to make sure everyone was OK, he got hit by a second explosion."

Relatives said that Lopez, a Los Angeles native, had been unsure of what to do after he graduated from high school. But one day he came home and told his mother, Ana Fajardo, that he had enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Although friends and family members had always seen a cheerful Lopez, his wife said, when it came to military duty he was businesslike. "I am very proud of him," she said. "He was a dedicated Marine, and he was very proud of that too."

Read more about Marine Sergeant Edgar Edelberto Lopez here.