Pfc. Jose Ricardo Flores-Mejia, 21, of Santa Clarita, Calif., was killed Tuesday in Mosul when his convoy was hit by an bomb.

Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, 25, of San Diego, was killed Monday in Al Anbar province.

Because his father had passed away three years ago, the Marine Corps told Peralta he didn't have to deploy to Iraq as he was the head of his family.

But the Hawai'i-based Marine with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment was a sergeant with a job to do, he told his mother and siblings in San Diego.

"He was just so proud to be a Marine," said his sister, Icela Donald, 24, of Florida. "It was his choice to go."

Peralta is the 13th fatality since the 1/3 Marines landed in Iraq last month as part of a U.S. force buildup for the assault on Fallujah that began Nov. 8.

Donald said the family was given few details of her brother's death. A Marine spokesman, who arrived at her mother's home Monday night, told the family that Peralta was in combat when he was shot in the chest.

Although the gunshot knocked him down, Peralta's body armor saved his life, Donald said. But as her brother was getting to his feet, a car bomb exploded. He died as fellow Marines tried to get him to a hospital, she said.

"I think what happened, I can't say it makes me happy, but I know he was happy serving his country," she said. "That was what he loved the most."

Seven Kane'ohe Marines died Oct. 30 after a suicide bomber rammed a Suburban into a troop truck near Fallujah and detonated explosives.

Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Pickering, 20, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods, 22, were killed Nov. 10 as Hawai'i Marines fought their way into Fallujah.

Lance Cpl. David M. Branning, 21, and Lance Cpl. Brian A. Medina, 20, were killed two days later.

"The Third Marine Regiment and the Marine Corps Base Hawai'i family suffered a great loss when an additional four Marines and one sailor were killed this past week during the attack to rid Fallujah of enemy terrorist strongholds," said 3rd Regiment commander Col. Jeff Patterson.

Patterson said he has spoken to many of the families of the Marines killed in recent fighting.

"They are all grieving because of their loss, but I was inspired by the spiritual strength and and faith of these families," Patterson said. "In many cases they asked what they could do to support the other families of Marines or sailors who were killed."

Peralta enlisted in the Marines in April 2000. He trained as a rifleman that summer with the infantry at Camp Pendleton, Calif. In December 2003, Peralta was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Donald flew to San Diego yesterday. She said she will probably stay to help her mother cope.

"She is really devastated," Donald said. "We lost my dad three years ago and she was just starting to recover from that."

Her mother was angry at the Marines for sending her brother into combat. But Peralta called his mother to ease her fears, Donald said.

"The last time they talked, he told her not to be mad and to respect them," Donald said. "He was just so proud to be a Marine."

The U.S. military declared Fallujah occupied but not subdued on Saturday. Peralta's death came as Marines continued to engage guerrillas trying to sneak back into the city. Despite that, the 1/3 Marines are already meeting with Iraqis to rebuild.

"We're in this gray area between decisive operations and stability and support," Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, who commands 1/3, told a Christian Science Monitor reporter with the Hawai'i troops in northeast Fallujah. "Unfortunately, we're still finding huge weapons caches, and people holed up in houses fighting us."

Flores-Mejia, one of two Schofield Barracks soldiers killed in Iraq this week, was assigned to the 25th Transportation Company, 524th Corps Support Battalion, 45th Corps Support Group. A motor transport operator, Flores-Mejia enlisted in the Army in May 2003 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in October 2003. He is survived by a wife and a newborn son, Gabriel.

McConnell was assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment. He enlisted in the Army in October 2002 and was assigned to Hawai'i in March 2003. He is survived by two daughters, Riley, 5, and Cearra, 2.

Thirty-eight service members with Hawai'i ties have died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait since March 2003.