A young Kansas Marine is now laid to rest. Nineteen-year-old Private First Class Ryan Cox was killed in an accidental shooting south of Baghdad. Services were held in Belle Plaine to remember the young Marine. High school friends and family gathered to pay their last respects.

He's remembered as a sincere man with a good sense of humor, a track athlete turned Marine who decided to serve his country. Family and other Marines are on hand to give a proper burial with military honors.

Friends like Daniel Faley say Cox was making plans to come home when the accident happened. Now friends know he is home, but at the same time gone. It's a loss not easily overcome.

One friend says, "It just didn't seem real until I saw his body in the mortuary."

Family recalls the vibrant, young man who wanted to jump-start a career and serve his country at the same time in the Marines. As the community says goodbye, his Marine counterparts are already planning a memorial to remember.

The family has a memorial set up through the Panhandle Federal Credit Union in Wellington.

You can send donations to:

Private First Class Ryan Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 26
Wellington, Kansas 67152