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thedrifter
02-28-06, 06:34 AM
Family says Marine from Superior killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
Published February 27, 2006, 2:51 PM CST

SUPERIOR, Wis. -- A Marine from northern Wisconsin with only 15 days of active combat duty left in Iraq was killed by a roadside bomb there, a sister said Monday.

Adam VanAlstine, 21, of Superior, was killed Saturday in Ramadi outside of Baghdad, said his sister, Dawn Meyers of Cottage Grove, Minn.

The Marine, a 2003 graduate of Superior High School, left for Iraq in September and was scheduled to return in April, she said.

Another sister, Jennifer VanAlstine, said her brother's dream was to serve in the Marines.

"He had wanted this since he was a little boy," she said. "He lived and breathed to be in the Marines."

She said her brother wanted to be in Iraq.

"I believe wholeheartedly that if he would've come home, he would have been back there as soon as he could," she said. "I'm angry that he was there, but I am proud of him. He wouldn't have been complete if he wouldn't have been there."

Meyers said Adam VanAlstine sent her and her husband a congratulatory card he had made recently when he learned she was pregnant.

He said in the card, "I don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, but he or she is the reason why I do what I do without thinking twice about it — so he or she can enjoy the greatest country in the world."

Both of VanAlstine's parents are deceased.

Randal Wuorinen, 21, said VanAlstine was part of a group of friends who grew up together in Superior, calling themselves the East End boys, and had tattoos with their group's nickname.

"Adam was always in high spirits," Wuorinen said. "He was the strongest person that I ever knew."

Rest In Peace

Ellie