Lance Cpl. Adam J. Crumpler, 19, was killed by small-arms fire during Operation Spear, the Department of Defense said Monday.

Crumpler, of Charleston, W.Va., was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune. He joined the unit in July after signing up for the Marines in December 2003, said Lt. Barry Edwards, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune.

Crumpler was remembered as a cutup, a teenager who liked to clown around.

His older sister, Brittnay Crumpler, 21, spent part of Monday afternoon flipping through old photos, laughing at one of Adam at 15 preening in one of her dresses.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do now," she said. "I took care of him."

Their mother died when Adam was 13; their father isn't around anymore.

Emma Johnson, Crumpler's maternal grandmother, helped raise the children.

As a junior, Adam Crumpler skipped class so often that his grandmother started going to school with him. For nine weeks, she followed him from class to class and sat between him and the door.

He wrote home from Iraq often. His last letter to his sister arrived a few days ago. "I only have to survive a few more major missions," he wrote.

Johnson said he called her shortly before he left for his last mission. "He said, 'Grandma, I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you I love you, and I'll call you when I get back.' "