THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -- KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A Marine from Kirkland has died in Iraq during a rocket attack on his base. He had been in Iraq for just 10 days.

Lance Corporal Shane C. Swanberg, 24, was at Forward Operating Base, Camp Ramadi, when the rocket attack occurred early Thursday. He was the only U.S. soldier killed in the barrage.

In an e-mail his family received Wednesday, Swanberg told his mother he'd be going out on his first patrol the next day. He never left camp.

"I pray that he just didn't know what happened," his father, Brian Swanberg, said Friday.

After his military service, Shane planned to attend college and get into real estate, his father said.

"He was always reading financial books and real estate books," he said, describing his son as a loving, light-hearted boy.

"When he was here in August, we didn't speak of death," said his mother, Linda Swanberg. "It was an ever-present piece of our minds, but we didn't let it ruin his stay here."

Shane shipped out to Iraq Sept. 5. On Sept. 11, he sent an e-mail to his mother, telling her, "I guess you don't really realize how serious it us until you get fired upon."

She said he ended every email home with "I love you, Mom."

His father said Swanberg wanted to serve his country after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A 2000 graduate of Juanita High, he joined the Marine Corps in 2002.

Following basic training, Swanberg was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based in Twentynine Palms, Calif. He was trained to operate TOW missile launchers, Humvees and turret-mounted M60 machine guns.

Shane's brother Travis Swanberg, 21, is an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Lewis. He is trained as a combat medic, but Brian Swanberg said he probably will not now be sent to Iraq.

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