Edwardo Lopez seemed cut out for the Marine Corps, a relative said.

From childhood, the Aurora, Ill., man had liked all things military. As an adult, he wanted to get out in the world.

"He was looking forward to going a lot of places they were going to send him. He just wanted to explore what was out there," his cousin, Seferino Alonzo III, told the Chicago Tribune.

Lopez, 21, a private, was based in Hawai'i and had done a tour in Afghanistan. He was killed Thursday during combat in Iraq, the Pentagon said yesterday.

"I'm just thinking that it's going to be hard for me to keep going in life," his mother, Martha, told the Tribune.

Lopez was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, at Kane'ohe Bay. He is the sixth Marine with the battalion to be killed in combat since Sept. 26. About 1,000 Hawai'i Marines last month started a seven-month deployment to Iraq.

At East Aurora High School, which he graduated from in 2003, Lopez was into "talking," his mother told the Aurora Beacon News. "Eddie was always talking, about anything and everything."

He joined the Marine Corps in April 2004 and reported to Hawai'i that October. He was deployed to Afghanistan from May 2005 to January 2006.

Authorities said 91 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq this month, the deadliest month since January, when 107 were killed.

Violence spiked during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The U.S. military said 300 Iraqi army soldiers have been killed.

The 2nd Battalion Marines relieved another Hawai'i-based unit, the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Sept. 24 in Haditha, Iraq.

A total of 157 service members with Hawai'i ties have died from injuries received in Iraq or Afghanistan since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.