Marine Lance Cpl. Adam Strain, 20, Smartville; Killed in Combat

Adam J. Strain’s family had tried to talk him out of joining the military, but he would not be swayed.

“He said, ‘This is my duty, this is want I want to do,’ ” said his aunt, Cheryl Grodan. “Ever since he was old enough to talk about what he wanted to do, he was always interested in the military. He wanted to be a Marine.”

On Wednesday, the lance corporal was killed by enemy small-arms fire during combat operations in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad, according to Defense Department officials.

Strain, 20, of Smartville, Calif., a small town 15 miles west of Grass Valley in the foothills northeast of Sacramento, enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 2004, just months after graduating from Nevada Union High School, where he played football.

Family and friends called him a strong athlete and a hard worker, with a quick smile. “Adam was very fun-loving; he lived life to the fullest,” Grodan said in a telephone interview from Burlington, Vt., where Strain’s parents, Robert and Karen Strain, now live. Strain also is survived by a brother, Steven Tomsic, 31.

Strain was engaged to Barbara Wycliff, 19, of nearby Penn Valley, Calif. The couple worked together bagging groceries at SPD Market in Grass Valley. They planned to be married in October, when Strain was scheduled to return from his deployment, Grodan said.

Strain’s former football coach, Dave Humphers, said the news had shaken the Grass Valley community, which is home to many troops serving in Iraq. “News travels fast in our small town. People feel these are our boys, these are all our boys,” he said. “We count our blessing that Adam is just the first.”

Strain’s former teammates made a banner reading “R.I.P. ADAM USMC 88” and strung it across the highway in his honor Thursday. Strain played defensive end for the Nevada Union Miners and wore the number 88.

Strain was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Grodan said that Strain called his parents every Wednesday night “without fail” while serving out his tour, and that aside from complaints about the wind, sand and heat, he had been happy with his decision to serve.