Lance Corporal Justin J. Swanson from Anaheim loved being a Marine.
"Ooorah!!!" he wrote on his MySpace page. "I love what I do ... and I'm good at what I do. ... I’m pretty wild cause I’ll do about anything you challenge me to.”
Swanson enlisted in the Marines in 2006 and was based at Camp Pendleton with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, The Orange County Register reported.
Swanson was serving in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province when he was killed by an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense announced.
His death on Nov. 10 came on the official birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, and a day before Veterans' Day, The Orange County Register reported.
Swanson was killed in what’s become the most lethal year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
There have been 922 American deaths in Afghanistan since the war began.
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Swanson's family gave permission for the public and the media to view the return of Swanson's remains to The Joint Forces Training Base at Los Alamitos today, and on Thursday afternoon a contingency of both enlisted and veteran soldiers came to give the marine his final salute.
Swanson had been on his second deployment after returning from Iraq last year, officials based at Camp Pendleton said.
Swanson grew up in Anaheim and went to Buena Park High School, where - according to his MySpace page - he majored in football.
Swanson had talked since high school about joining the Marines, in part to set an example for his two younger brothers and two younger sisters, The Orange County Register reported.
Lance Corporal Justin J. Swanson was 21 years old.
