Marine Staff Sgt. Allan K. Walker

Died April 6, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Lancaster, Calif.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed April 6 by hostile fire in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Allan K. Walker was a fun-loving guy, but the recruits he knew as drill sergeant might not have guessed it.

“His nickname was ‘The Beast’ because he was hardcore and very good at it,” said his stepsister Jamie Doucette, 26. “But he treated everyone equally.”

Staff Sgt. Walker, 28, of Lancaster, Calif., died April 6 in fighting in Anbar province.

He is survived by his fiancee, April Diorio.

In high school, Walker was outgoing and eclectic: a football player and wrestler who also enjoyed drama, Celtic music and punk rock. He joined the Marines because he was tired of flipping burgers, Doucette said.

“If he was going to have someone bark commands at him, why not do something to support our country,” she said he told her.

— Associated Press