John J. McKenna

Friday, August 18 2006 @ 09:13 PM MDT

Times Union -- CLIFTON PARK -- A State Trooper from Clifton Park who took on a second tour of duty in Iraq because he wanted ``be with his men'' was killed during a fire fight outside of the Iraqi city of Fallujah Wednesday.

Marine Capt. John J. McKenna IV, 30, was killed alongside of his men, Marine Lance Corporal Michael Glover of New York City. Both were with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Division, Fox Company.

Family members said McKenna may have been rescuing or taking over Glover's position when he was shot by a sniper and killed.

KcKenna, a patrol trooper for Troop F in Kingston and recently was called up for his second tour. He had previously done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq between June 1998 and August 2003, when he joined the police academy, graduating in August 2005.

McKenna lived with his sister, Allyson Zehrfuhs, and her husband, David, on Reed Lane in *censored*on Park. He was stationed with the Marine Reserves center at Washington and North Main avenues in Albany, his family said.

``We were tentative about him going over there again but it was important to him to be with his men and see that they were safe,'' Zehrfuhs said. ``Our family is devasted. There is really no way to describe this pain.''

McKenna's parents John McKenna III and Karen McKenna live in Brooklyn and were in the process of moving to Clifton Park to be close to their two children, Allyson and John.

``My dad was in Brooklyn when the Marine's visited with the news then they drove him up here to break it to us,'' Allyson said. ``My mother is devasted and has not eaten since she heard the news.''

McKenna, who was not married and had no children, always wanted to be a Marine and a trooper.

His mother urged him to attend Binghamton University, where he got a degree in history, so he could get into officer's school, Allyson said.

``He was the best godfather to our three-year-old daughter Michaela,'' Allyson said. ``He actually got leave, got off the plane and drove all the way up to be here when she was born.''

The family said services will be in Brooklyn and are pending. Burial is planned for the Saratoga National Cemetery.

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