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Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker
Died May 13, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
19, of Irvington, Ill.; assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed near Hillah, Iraq, when the munitions bunker he was working in caught fire and exploded.
Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker grew up in Odin, Ill., and graduated from Odin High School in 2001.
“He couldn’t wait to serve his country,” said a friend, Michael Dunbar. “All he ever wanted to do was join the service. Ever since he was 15 it’s all he ever talked about.”
Kleiboeker was killed May 13 near Al Hillah, Iraq, when the ammunition bunker he was working in caught fire and exploded. Classmate Josh Case went to boot camp with Kleiboeker in 2001. “We talked about going into the Marines since the junior year of high school,” Case said. “I went reserves and he wanted to go actives; that’s the kind of guy he was.”
— Associated Press