David Owens played football, ran track and excelled at wrestling at James Wood High School in Winchester, Va. In his senior year, he placed fourth in the Commonwealth District Wrestling Tournament and sixth in the Northwest Region.

After graduation in 2000, Owens joined the Marines. He hoped that it would lead to a career as a state trooper.

In an interview with the local newspaper, The Winchester Star, his mother, Debbie Owens, said she had scrutinized the television news after the war began, trying to catch a glimpse of her 20-year-old son. She had felt great sympathy for parents who lost a child in the war.

But �when it hits home, it�s a different ball game,� she said. �Our whole life was centered around him.�

Owens was shot in the...