A Hawai'i Marine who suffered internal injuries and lost both legs in a June 22 roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan died yesterday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., according to his hometown newspaper in Oregon.

Cpl. Matthew Lembke, 22, was part of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Kane'ohe Bay.

Lembke, who was on his first combat tour to Afghanistan after deploying twice before to Iraq, had undergone operations every other day to fight infections, according to The Oregonian newspaper.

He was mostly sedated, but had blinked his eyes and squeezed the hands of family members before taking a turn for the worse, the newspaper reported.

About 1,000 Hawai'i Marines with the 2nd Battalion arrived in Helmand and Farah provinces in late May, part of a surge of 21,000 additional U.S. troops ordered by President Obama into an increasingly restive Afghanistan.

The deployment marked what will likely be a return to steady duty in the country for Kane'ohe Bay's infantry battalions, which for several years had deployed in rotating order to Iraq.

The Marines already have engaged in skirmishes with anti-American forces in the poppy fields, orchards and walled compounds of Helmand province, and fallen victim to the increasing use of roadside bombs.

Chris Brummitt, an Associated Press reporter who was with Kane'ohe Marines with Golf Company in Now Zad, said by the end of June the improvised explosive devices had killed one Marine and wounded seven — with four Marines losing both legs.

Brummitt said such a bomb wounded Lembke, from Tualatin, Ore., as he walked to a building.

Lembke had left a message on his MySpace page saying, "Hey, I'm in Afghanistan, so if you don't hear from me, too bad!!! I'll be back next spring then I'm coming home for good and going to school."

Lembke, whose nickname was "Lump-E," also said he was single, loved being in the "great outdoors," and played football, basketball and baseball. "I like to swim and snowboard or just crash on the beach," he wrote.

Another Hawai'i Marine, Lance Cpl. Joshua R. Whittle, 20, of Downey. Calif., died when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province on June 6.