Marine Cpl. Kirk J. Bosselmann, 21, Napa; Dies in Combat in Iraq

There was no such thing as half speed for Marine Cpl. Kirk J. Bosselmann.

After he graduated in 2001 from Poolesville High School in Maryland, he traveled by train to California to jump out of airplanes to fight fires. And after joining the Marine Corps, he worked his way onto a sniper squadron, drawing on a childhood spent hunting game in the deep woods of Maryland’s rural Montgomery County.

Quiet and confident, the former lacrosse player also learned to surf and ride a rodeo bull somewhere along the line.

“When dealing with him, you learned to not let anything surprise you,” said Montgomery County firefighter Joe Brown, a longtime friend of the 21-year-old Marine, who was killed in combat Nov. 27 while fighting insurgents near the Iraqi town of Fallouja.

“That’s how he was,” Brown said. “If he was going to do something, he figured he might as well do it 100% and be the best at it.”

Bosselmann, a resident of Napa, Calif., was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, serving as a sniper with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

During his tours, he earned several military honors, including a Humanitarian Service Medal for aiding people in Iraq. He was expected to be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his actions in the battle that claimed his life, according to published reports.

Bosselmann was due to return from the Middle East in February, Brown said.

Less than a week before Bosselmann was killed, he phoned his family in Maryland to say that he thought the worst of the fighting in Fallouja was over.

Poolesville High guidance counselor James Cappuccilli said he had taken to sending care packages to Bosselmann and others from the school who were fighting in the Middle East, passing along beef jerky, powdered Gatorade and cigars.

Cappuccilli said he remembered Bosselmann as a young man of few words but deliberate action, someone who even before he graduated from high school was volunteering with his local fire department.

“I found out about his death Monday and even [Friday] I was still crying,” Cappuccilli said. “He was self-made. He never asked for anything, and he gave everything. At 21 years of age, Kirk Bosselmann impacted the lives of everyone he touched.”

Bosselmann’s father declined comment, saying that the family wanted to preserve its privacy.

Brown said he was planning a Dec. 11 community celebration of his best friend’s life, a salute to the man who took great pride in his role as a Marine. “I definitely will miss him,” Brown said. “He leaves a very large void.”