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2 Lejeune NCOs killed in Afghanistan

Two North Carolina-based noncommissioned officers were killed Tuesday while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan, the Defense Department reported Wednesday.

Sgts. Trevor J. Johnson, 23, of Forsyth, Mont., and David W. Wallace III, 25, of Sharpsville, Pa., died in Helmand province, according to a news release from 2nd Marine Division. Both combat engineers, they were assigned to Camp Lejeune’s 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, which deployed to Afghanistan in November.

Johnson, who joined the service in August 2003, previously deployed to Afghanistan from June 2005 to January 2006, and to Iraq from October 2006 to May 2007. He was raised on his family’s ranch in southeastern Montana, according to a short biography posted on the state’s official Web site, and enlisted during his senior year of high school, determined to “give something back” to his nation and to “make a difference” in other’s lives.

Johnson also served in Japan, Thailand and the Philippines, according to Web site. “His sister, Erin, and his parents are very proud of him,” it says.

Wallace, who joined the Corps in September 2002, had deployed to Iraq twice — from September 2004 to April 2005 and again from July 2007 to January 2008.

No other information was immediately available.