California Marines Killed in Al Anbar Province

The family of Marine 1st Lt. Joshua M. Palmer thought the graduate of a private university whose passion was reading could have succeeded in many professions outside the military.

“We argued about it and I did not want him to go in the service,” his mother, Jackie, said from the family home in Banning.

But after she was notified last week that her son had been killed in Iraq, she said she found comfort in his noble determination to serve the country he loved. “He wanted to clean it up. He wanted to make it right,” she said. “He did not want to be a spectator. He wanted to be a participant.”

Palmer, 25, died April 8 along with Lance Cpl. Michael B. Wafford, 20, of Spring, Texas, in a firefight with Iraqi insurgents in Al Anbar province. The two Marines were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Palmer’s mother said she was told by military officials that her son was shot while leading his platoon on a mission to take out three snipers; American troops eventually killed one sniper and captured the other two.

Palmer was born in Mission Viejo, but his family moved to Banning when he was 1. His love of learning started at an early age. Driving by an elementary school once when he was 7, he told his mother: “Look at all those parents who are allowing their kids to play soccer. Don’t you know it’s destroying their brains?”

Palmer attended Banning High School, where he took Advanced Placement classes, was a lineman on the football team and had a large circle of friends, said a childhood friend, Dominic Persechini.

After his graduation in 1997, Palmer joined the Marines part time, persuading his mother to sign for him because he was only 17. He served in the military on weekends while earning a degree in international relations at the University of San Diego in 2001, his family said.

Palmer joined the Marines full time, Persechini said, because of his deep-seated belief that the military had a benevolent purpose in the development of countries.

In fact, one of Palmer’s favorite books -- out of a large collection he treasured -- was “Starship Troopers,” a novel that touches on the positive function of armed forces in society. “He was a great student of history and he thought that it was warriors that make countries strong and prosperous,” Persechini said.

In 2002, Palmer received officer training at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., graduating 10th in his class, his mother said.

Jackie Palmer last saw her son in November in San Diego. After he was deployed to Iraq two days before Thanksgiving, mother and son talked often by phone. “We had a little thing we would say: ‘Every night, look at the moon, say your prayers and know I love you,’ ” his mother said.

Palmer also is survived by his father, Mark of Joshua Tree; a brother, Justin; his maternal grandmother, Dolores Nieblas; and his paternal grandmother, Joan Palmer.

Palmer was buried Friday at Riverside National Cemetery.