Marine Lance Cpl. Jakub Henryk Kowalik

Died May 12, 2003 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

21, of Schaumburg, Ill.; assigned to 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed in Iraq when unexploded ordnance he was handling detonated.

Jakub H. Kowalik came to the United States from Poland in 1992 and was a permanent U.S. resident. He enlisted in the Marines during his senior year at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Ill.

Kowalik was killed May 12 near a Marine encampment when unexploded ordnance he was handling exploded.

“He’s my hero, my best friend,” said his older brother, Paul Kowalik. “He was a good person, the last person this should happen to.”

— Associated Press