Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, Yorba Linda; shot in Afghanistan

Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino IV was a warrior, seemingly for his whole life, his family and friends said.

As a child, he would brandish a toy gun and pretend to be a soldier. He staged play fights with his siblings, sometimes making believe that coyotes were their foes. He organized a fight club to do battle with his friends.

On June 22, Patino died while fighting.

The 22-year-old rifleman from Yorba Linda was “killed by small-arms fire, while conducting dismounted combat operations against enemy forces” in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border, according to a statement issued by the Marine Corps.

Patino was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

He was on his third combat deployment, having previously served in Iraq in 2008 and in Afghanistan in 2009. He had returned to Afghanistan in March.

“Since he was 3 years old, he would walk around saying he was going to be a Marine one day,” said Marlon Chinchilla, 35, Patino’s brother. “His dream was to join the Marine Corps.”

He did so in 2006, almost immediately after graduating from El Dorado High School in Placentia.

When they were growing up, Patino and his siblings were taught to be tough, and not to allow anyone “to run over you,” Chinchilla said.

Patino took this mission very seriously. “He was all about fighting, being a warrior … and was just as tough as can be,” his brother said.

Patino also was athletic and excelled on his high school wrestling team.

As a teenager, Patino started a fight club in the backyard of the family home. Fearing being liable for anyone injured on her property, his mother barred the club from the home, so the youngster relocated his group to a nearby park.

“He was pretty crazy. He liked to fight a lot, but not in a bad way,” said his sister, Evelyn Patino, 24.

Chinchilla said his brother appreciated the art of fighting, and respected ancient warriors such as the Vikings and samurais, as well as Native Americans, for their valor and willingness to fight and die for what they believed in.

Born to a Mexican father and a Guatemalan mother, Patino hailed from a family with a background in military service.

His father, for whom Claudio was named, served in the Mexican military before immigrating to the United States decades ago. As a tribute to his father’s service, Patino, who was U.S.-born, had a Mexican eagle tattooed on one of his biceps, his sister said. His other arm bore an American eagle.

“Our parents are immigrants, but we were taught to love this country. We were raised to be patriotic,” Chinchilla said. “There is nothing better you can do than die for your country. [Claudio] really believed that.”

During his last three-month home leave, which ended in March, Patino spent most of his time with friends and his close-knit family, his sister said.

She said one of her fondest memories from her brother’s final weeks at home was when he included her in a favorite pastime; he invited her to go with him to a shooting range.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to shoot anything, but he taught me how,” Evelyn Patino said. “It was pretty fun.”

A week before the Marine died, he called home. Chinchilla said they spoke about movies and about the family’s plans to send him a computer program that would allow him to upload movies onto his iPod.

Patino was chatty and upbeat, and spoke fondly about the troops he was working with as a scout sniper, his brother recalled.

Patino was buried July 2 at Riverside National Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Jamie Burns; his parents, Claudio and Evelyn; and six siblings.

ann.simmons@latimes.com