But his deployment with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based in Kane'ohe, seemed to come with greater risks, the 28-year-old lance corporal from Washington, Ga., told his parents.

"The last two months have been really tough," said his father, Michael D. Scarborough. "He told us, 'I am in the most dangerous area in the world. Pray for me.'

"That's what we did. He just didn't quite get out."

Jeremy Bow

Christopher Lapka

The wall crushed the sergeant, and Scarborough suffered a broken ankle — although he didn't know it.

"He walked two miles helping to carry the dead back to camp," his father said. "One of the medics said, 'What's wrong with your foot?' They had to cut his boot off, his foot was so swollen."

When he recovered, Scarborough returned to Iraq.

Today, a Marine escort will return Scarborough's body to his small Georgia town.

Lance Cpl. Travis A. Fox, 25, of Cowpens, S.C., dreamed of being in the military since he was a child, his mother Cheryl Fox, said when reached last night by telephone.

"His uncle was in the Army," she said. "Trav loved listening to his war stories."

He'd intended to enlist immediately after graduating from Broome High School in 1998, but delayed those plans when his mother had open-heart surgery. He stayed home, cared for his mother and worked in a gas station, a fruit stand and at a Wal-mart.

"He was easy-going and loving," Cheryl Fox said. "From Day 1, he was never a minute's trouble. He was the best child any parent could ever want."

In June 2002, a month after enlisting, he married Cassie Easterlin Hendricks.

Travis Fox called his mother about a week ago and told her a mortar round had exploded in a tent four tents away from his. It had scared him, he said.

It scared his mother, too.

"I told him, 'I don't want to get a phone call ...,' " she said.

"He said, 'Mama don't talk like that. I promise you, I'll be the one to call you. Nothing is going to happen to me. I'll be on guard.'

"He promised he'd be the one to call."

Cpl. Christopher J. Lapka, 22, of Peoria, Ariz., had wanted to go to Iraq, his mother, Tina Lapka, told The Associated Press yesterday. He had been there only two weeks when he was killed.

Motivated by the Sept. 11 attacks, the Arizona State University civil engineering student dropped out of school to join the Marines. He left for training in January, 2002.

Tina Lapka said she had missed a call from "C.J." on Friday, but had recently received e-mails and letters. He had asked her to send cookies to fellow Marines who weren't getting enough care packages.

Pfc. John Lukac, 19, of Las Vegas, enlisted in August 2003.

When reached in Las Vegas last night, a relative of Lukac said her family was "doing terrible" after hearing the news of his death. She declined further comment.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy D. Bow, 20, of Lemoore, Calif., enlisted in the Marines in August 2003. He trained to become a machine gunner at Camp Pendleton.

Lance Cpl. John T. Byrd II, 23, of Fairview, W.Va., enlisted in January 2001.

Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Riedel, 19, of Northglenn, Colo., enlisted in September 2003.