Marine Cpl. Dominique J. Nicolas

Died May 26, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of Maricopa, Ariz.; assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed May 26 by hostile fire in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Arizona Marine killed by hostile fire in Iraq

Associated Press

PHOENIX — A Marine from Maricopa was killed by hostile fire in Iraq, the military said Tuesday.

Cpl. Dominique J. Nicolas, 25, was killed May 26 while on a mission in Anbar province in Iraq.

Nicolas was a combat engineer with the I Marine Expeditionary Force, which is the Marine Corps’ primary war-fighting organization.

Nicolas, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., joined the Marines in August 2001.

He has been awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

President Bush awarded the I Expeditionary Force with a Presidential Unit Citation for heroism in action against an armed enemy for its involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom from March 21 to April 2003. In that period, MEF conducted the longest sequence of overland attacks in the history of the Marine Corps.

Camp Pendleton officials declined Tuesday to provide additional information on Nicolas.