Sgt. Richard M. Lord

As a child, Richard Lord often put on a GI Joe uniform after school, sometimes climbing a tree and asking if his mother could see him despite the camouflage. "He was going to be in the service his entire life," Karen Lantham said. The 24-year-old from Fanning Springs, Fla., died Aug. 18 from combat injuries received in Iraq''s Anbar province. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He left for boot camp six weeks after graduating high school. "His mission in life was to be a Marine," said his former teacher, Michelle Walker Crawford. Despite his dedication to the military, Lord''s love for his two sons had led him to consider leaving the service to spend more time with them, his mother said. He wanted to move back to Florida to be near his family, she said. "He just loved his family," Lantham said. "He took very good care of his family." Survivors include his fiancee, Rosanna Powers, and sons Richard Murle Flash Lord, 2, and Brody Lord, 10 months. Rosanna''s brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb Powers, died in Iraq the day before her fiance.