The Pentagon yesterday announced the death of a Hawai'i-based Marine serving in Afghanistan, one day after he was buried with military honors on the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

Lance Cpl. Kevin B. Joyce of Klagetoh, Ariz., drowned in rushing floodwaters of the Pech River on June 25. He was 19.

Joyce was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.

An infantryman with Company E, Joyce had deployed to Asadabad, Afghanistan, in June and had not been there long when a patrol he was with got in trouble June 25, the Marines said.

As the patrol was returning to its base, Camp Blessing, about 11 p.m., Joyce's vehicle — one of five in the convoy — was traveling along a cliffside road that could not support the weight of the vehicle.

The vehicle slipped when the edge of the road collapsed, dumping three Marines. One of them fell about 10 to 12 feet onto a ledge above the Pech River. A second Marine landed in the river but was close enough to its bank to get out.

Joyce fell into the river, which was experiencing the worst flooding in 16 years, the Marines said. River currents estimated at 30 to 35 mph swept Joyce away.

Marines in the convoy immediately searched the area and tied a rope to a rescue swimmer who was unable to find Joyce in the river.

Search teams did not find Joyce until July 4 when his body was located near Torkham Gate, Afghanistan, the Marines said. He was positively identified on July 7 at the Marine Casualty Headquarters in Dover, Del.

The identification was a heavy blow to a very large family, which includes his mother, 21 aunts and uncles, and a small army of teenager cousins all about the same age as Joyce, said Lillie Roanhorse, one of his aunts.

"He was a wonderful young man," she said yesterday from her home in Window Rock. "He had a great personality. He was very kind to everybody."

Although Joyce grew up in Klagetoh, he attended high school 75 miles away in Joseph City, making the drive each day with his mother, Roanhorse said.

Her nephew wanted to join the Marines so badly, he skipped his commencement exercises in the spring of 2004 to get to boot camp early, Roanhorse said.

"That's all he wanted to do was be in the military," she said.

Joyce graduated from Marine boot camp in San Diego nearly a year ago — on Aug. 20, 2004 — and arrived in Hawai'i in October.

Family and friends buried Joyce on Monday at Fort Defiance Veterans Cemetery, which is not far from Window Rock, Ariz., the capital of the Navajo Nation.

The cemetery, which sits on a hill, also serves at the final resting place for several military veterans in Joyce's family, Roanhorse said.

The funeral was sad beyond words.

"Everyone was crying," Roanhorse said. "Whenever they could cry, they cried."

All Navajo Nation flags have been flying at half-staff in honor of Joyce and another Navajo who was killed in Iraq.

The flags will remain at half-staff until Friday.