The Daily News -- A Marine Corps officer who lived locally and a North Carolina sailor attached to a Camp Lejeune-based Marine unit were killed last week in Iraq, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Marine Capt. Tyler B. Swisher, 35, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was killed Friday along with Marine Cpl. Gray Cockerham III, 21, of Conover, after a roadside bomb in Al Amariyah, Iraq, threw them both from their vehicle and into a nearby canal, the DoD said.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher W. Thompson, 25, of North Wilkesboro, died in the same accident, his family said Wednesday.

Swisher, an infantry officer and company commander, and Cockerham, a machine gunner, were assigned to Lejeune's 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Lt. Barry Edwards, a spokesman for 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune.

Thompson, a hospitalman, was attached to 2/2. He was riding in the left rear seat of an armored vehicle when an improvised explosive device was set off, said his parents, Larry and Geraldine Thompson.

Swisher attended Mariemont High School, according to an NBC affiliate in Cincinnati. He joined the Corps in December 1993 - 2/2 in April, Edwards said.

A family friend told the Ohio TV station that Swisher graduated from Butler University with a degree in biology. This tour is Iraq was his third, the station reported.

According to the NBC affiliate, Swisher had a wife, two daughters, ages 15 and 7, and a 5-year-old son who live in the Jacksonville area.

His commendations include a Joint Service Commendation Medal, five Sea Service Deployment ribbons, an Iraqi Campaign Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a Korean Defense Medal, two National Defense Service medals and a Meritorious Unit Commendation, Edwards said.

Thompson's executive officer said he was proud to go to war with Thompson, his brother, David Thompson said.

"He knew if something happened, he'd take care of them," David Thompson said. "If things were worst, he'd be the first one to step up."

David Thompson also is a Navy corpsman assigned to the Marines.

When Thompson came home from his first combat tour, he was asked how he managed to insert an IV in someone's arm on a battlefield while bullets were crackling by and bombs were exploding.

"He said, 'All I can tell you is I haven't missed yet. When you've got somebody dying, you've got to do what you can do," Larry Thompson said.

During his first tour from March 2004 to October 2004, Thompson helped four Marines hurt when a bomb exploded beside the Humvee in front of his. A fifth Marine, his best friend, died in his arms.

At home, he talked to his father about still seeing the faces of those who had died.

Larry Thompson, an Army veteran, said he still sees the faces of those who died when he was in Vietnam.

"I don't want to forget them," he says he told his son. "I want to remember them and honor them.

"You do the best you can and come home. That's all you can do."

Thompson joined the Navy when he was 21.

He finished basic training three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was sent to the USS Austin.

Eighteen months later, he started corpsman training.

Thompson's mother remembered him as a funny boy. As a teenager, he would sneak her convertible out to take his friends for a ride, she said. She never told him she knew.

He played football and baseball at North Wilkes High School, and hoped to study at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. when his military duty ended.

He wanted to become a coach and teacher, his family said.

A prior Purple Heart recipient, Cockerham joined the Marines in May 2003 and left soon after for Iraq.

He married his girlfriend, Amanda Johnson, on a trip home to Catawba County about a year ago.

Both graduated from Hickory's St. Stephen's High School in 2002, where Cockerham played on the school soccer team all four years, according to friends.

Over the summer, he was called back for a second tour of duty.

Cockerham was initially listed as missing in action, and friends and family members held out hope he would be found alive.

They learned the bad news Monday night.

Chuck Davis, the former boys' soccer coach at St. Stephens, remembers Cockerham's work ethic, which he shared with younger players.

"I told them how Gray was a hard worker and how he sacrificed," he said Tuesday. "If you want to score goals bad enough, you'll be like Gray Cockerham."

Members of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church posted a message on its sign asking people to pray for the Cockerham family.

Cockerham joined 2/2 in October 2003, Edwards said. Apart from the Purple Heart, his commendations include a Combat Action Ribbon, two Sea Service Deployment ribbons, an Iraqi Campaign Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a National Defense Service Medal, Edwards said.

Cockerham is survived by his wife, Amanda Johnson Cockerham; his parents, Ben and Jill Cockerham; and a younger brother, Adam.

He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.