Alexander Arredondo always saw the glass half-full. He joined the Marines out of a sense of duty, and when others complained about their training, he just smiled and kept working. When Iraqi children threw rocks at American troops, Arredondo tried to change their attitudes. "That's one thing I will say I gave to him: optimism, which is a good thing to have in this life," said his mother, Victoria Foley. Arredondo, 20, of Randolph, Mass., died Aug. 25 in a hostile attack in Najaf, Iraq. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. His father was so upset upon learning of the death that he climbed into a Marine Corps van and set fire to the vehicle, seriously burning himself. "This is his scream that his child is dead. The war needs to stop," said Melida Arredondo, the fallen Marine's stepmother. She said Alex joined the Marines at the age of 17 to help pay for college. He was in his second tour of duty in Iraq. When he called home hours before his death, he sounded upbeat. "He was ready," Foley said. "He was ready to fight that night. He knew it was going to get rough."

— Associated Press