Farewell, Mark Lee

As Oregon says farewell and thank you to another of our young men, we keep our prayers with their families.

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A sailor from Oregon died this week while on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense and his family members.HOOD RIVER, Ore. (AP) -

A sailor from Oregon died this week while on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, according to the U.S. Department of Defense and his family members. Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc A. Lee, 28, of Hood River was killed Aug. 2, as he entered a building with his team during a fierce battle against insurgents. Lee was an aviation ordnanceman and a member of a West Coast-based Navy SEAL team, the military said.

Lee's family told The Oregonian newspaper that he became a SEAL in 2004 and headed to Iraq last March.

U.S. Navy officers told his mother, Debbie Lee, that her son died minutes after he single-handedly held off enemy fighters as his team rescued a soldier wounded on a rooftop by a sniper.

Lee told the newspaper that she has for a long time described her son by simply quoting from the Bible's Gospel of John. "Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends," Debbie Lee recited during a phone interview Friday night from her home in Surprise, Ariz.

The Navy said Marc Lee has been awarded the Bronze Star with Valor for heroism, the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon for his actions in the battle.

Marc Lee leaves behind a wife, Maya.

Born in Portland, Marc Lee lived in Hood River for most of his childhood, graduating from Baptist Christian School 10 years ago.

In letters home, Lee never expressed regrets about taking the path or doubts about U.S. operations in Iraq.

"He felt strongly that people wanted him there," Debbie Lee said. "He told me how people cried for our military to save them from some horrific stuff."

According to the count compiled by Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office, Lee is the 65th person either from Oregon or with strong ties to the state to have been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.