SignOnSanDiego -- When Cpl. Salem Bachar left Camp Pendleton for Iraq on Jan. 25, he told his wife, Kristine, to hope for the best but expect the worst.

The worst came for her Thursday when she learned that her husband was killed in an attack earlier that day in Anbar province in Iraq. He was on his second tour of duty.

“We were writing e-mails to each other almost every day, and he telephoned me twice a week,” said Kristine Bachar, who had married Salem 12 days before his deployment during a small backyard ceremony with immediate family members.

“We were exchanging notes and photos of what we wanted for our big wedding and reception,” she added. “We were planning to have that celebration when he returned home.”

Salem Bachar, 20, spoke English, Spanish and Arabic. He was an intelligence specialist assigned to the Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton. He had graduated from Chula Vista High School in 2003 before joining the Marines.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his parents, Martha and Fouad Bachar of Chula Vista, and his twin sisters, who attend his alma mater. The family was in mourning yesterday, Kristine Bachar said.

Salem Bachar was friends with Kristine's relatives for most of his childhood, but he didn't meet her until two years ago.

“It truly was love at first sight,” she said during a phone interview from her family's house in Fontana. “We couldn't stop talking, so we stayed up until 4 a.m.”

She came to cherish his sense of humor and his penchant for quoting jokes by Carlos Mencia, a comedian featured on the Comedy Central cable TV channel.

The couple was saving money to buy a home in south Orange County, close to Camp Pendleton.

“He was so happy, so full of life, so energetic. He was the spotlight wherever he went,” said Kristine Bachar, 30. “All I can say is that he loved being a Marine. He had it in his blood.”

Her mother, Maggie Prendiz, remembered him as a young man deeply in love with her daughter and as someone who went out of his way to help others.

“My son-in-law was the type of person who would take his shoes and shirt off and give them to someone who needed them,” Prendiz said. “If he saw someone broken down on the highway, he would turn around and help them.”

At Chula Vista High School, Principal Gary Chapman remembered Bachar as a multitalented student. For example, Bachar pinned a wrestling opponent in 34 seconds during his senior year.

“He could do everything. . . . He played a lot of instruments. He was on the wrestling and tracks teams. He studied physics. He was a very good amateur magician who used to entertain students and faculty alike. He used to make cards and coins disappear,” Chapman said.

Chapman underscored the point that Bachar had plenty of career opportunities but clearly sought to become a Marine.

“He could have done anything he wanted and chose the military,” Chapman said. “I'll always remember his big grin. He could go to any group in the school and get along with them.”

Service arrangements for Bachar are not final, his wife said.

He died during an attack that saw the heaviest fighting in Anbar province for at least a month. Camp Pendleton-based Lance Cpl. Stephen J. Perez, 22, of San Antonio was killed in the battle and 22 Marines were injured.

The deaths of Bachar and Perez bring to four the number of Camp Pendleton Marines killed in western Iraq in less than a week. Nearly 300 troops from the base have died in combat since 2003.