The Daily News -- Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Goodrich, 32, of Pittsburgh, and Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Kovacicek, 22, of Washington, were killed July 10 while conducting combat operations in the insurgent stronghold of Hit, Iraq, the military said.

Goodrich and Kovacicek were assigned to the Third Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Fourth Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Moundsville, W.Va. They were attached to Regimental Combat Team Two, Second Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

McKeesport Police Chief Joseph Pero said Goodrich worked as a public safety and neighborhood beat officer between March 22, 1998, and January 1999.

Goodrich resigned his post when he was elevated to active duty within the Marine Corps.

"He was a real good officer when he worked here," Pero said. "Our department is deeply saddened and we offer our condolences to his family for their loss.

Goodrich reportedly sent letters to his wife Amy just before he died, detailing why he became a Marine.

Kovacicek was a junior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was studying criminology.

He arrived in Iraq in March and expected to return home in October.

The military said both were killed by indirect enemy fire, possibly mortar shells during a battle at Hit, located along the Euphrates River in western Iraq.