The Defense Department has identified an Okinawa-based Marine who was killed in combat in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Marine Cpl. Adam J. Buyes died while fighting in Helmand province, according to the DOD. A native of Salem, Ore., Buyes was serving with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based on Okinawa, Japan’s southwest island prefecture.

The details of his death are under investigation.

The 21-year-old joined the Marines Corps in January 2009 after graduating from McKay High School in Salem the year before. Buyes’ brother Joshua is also a Marine, The Oregonian newspaper reported.

“He cared for his Marines as if they were brothers from the beginning,” said 1st Sgt. Daniel J. Wilson, the battalion first sergeant, in a statement released Tuesday by the Marines on Okinawa Tuesday. “Cpl. Buyes was just one of those Marines that made being in Okinawa, Japan, or deployed to Afghanistan better and more enjoyable for everyone.”

A high-school athlete, Buyes “had high morals, a great work ethic,” his high school football coach Jay Minyard told The Oregonian. “His peers loved him; his teachers loved him.”

A memorial service will be held Dec. 4 at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Marine officials said.

From staff reports

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