KTVOTV3 -- (FALLUJAH, Iraq)  The War on Terror hits close to home.       

Twenty-one-year-old Private First Class Rex Page, a Kirksville native, was killed Wednesday in Iraq when his humvee came under attack.     

Page is the first soldier from Kirksville to die in the war.     

He is survived by his parents Larry and Edie Page and his brother, James, all of Kirksville.     

Page is a 2004 graduate of Kirksville Christian High School.      

He joined the U.S. Marine Corps in May 2005.     

According to Larry Page, his son was "in his element" in uniform and in Iraq.     

He comes from a military family and knew all his life that he wanted to fight for his country.  

When he used to call home, some of his favorite stories to tell his family were about meeting Iraqi children and giving them chocolate and school supplies.     

Still, his family knew that he was in danger every day in Iraq.     

When Marine Corp officers showed up on the families doorstep around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, Page's family knew what was coming.       

Page's unit, the 3rd Marine Division, 5th Infantry, Lima Company, was stationed in Fallujah, but it is unclear where he and his platoon were when they came under attack.      

The soldiers were traveling in their Humvee when it came underfire.       

Page reportedly got out of the vehicle to help his fellow soldiers and was shot twice, once in the head.     

He was then rushed to Germany for surgery, but pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. local time, about 12:15 p.m. our time.     

The Marine Corps has honored Page several times for valor, at least once with the purple heart.

Funeral arrangements for Rex Page are pending.