StarBulletin.com

Marine served with pride


By

POSTED: Saturday, February 20, 2010

The family of the Kaneohe Marine killed this week in southern Afghanistan said he always wanted to be a Marine, and had served one combat tour in Iraq two years ago.

Lance Cpl. Noah M. Pier, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., died Tuesday while supporting combat operations in Helmand province.

In a statement to the Charlotte Observer, his family wrote, “;Lance Cpl. Noah Miles Pier was our son, brother, grandson, uncle and cousin. He believed in what he was fighting for and he died for your freedom.”;

Pier, the oldest of 10 children, “;loved to laugh,”; the family said. “;He greatly anticipated coming home from Afghanistan to marry his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Black. His laughter and love of life will be sorely missed.”;

Pier will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

His family called him “;our hero.”;

; Pier was a machine gunner assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. He was the fourth combat casualty for the “;Lava Dogs.”;

The battalion deployed to Afghanistan in November and joined Regimental Combat Team 7 to conduct counterinsurgency operations with the Afghan National Security Forces.

Pier joined the Marine Corps in August 2007 and reported to Kaneohe in February 2008. He deployed with the 1st Battalion to Iraq in September 2008.

His awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals, and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.