Nick Palmer remembered

Nick Palmer knew in his junior year in high school that he wanted to join the Marines.

"He liked what the Corps stood for and the physicality," said his father, Brad Palmer, a football coach at Lake County High School. "He wanted to be one of the few, the proud."

Lance Cpl. Palmer, 19, was killed by sniper fire Saturday while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, according to his family. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

His family had returned to their Leadville home Saturday afternoon from running errands when his mother responded to a knock at the door.

"I went numb," said Rachele Palmer. "When you see two uniformed Marines, you know."

After the Marines departed, phone calls and visitors started pouring into the Palmer home. Brad Palmer estimated 150 of his son's friends came over to the house.

A native of Great Falls, Mont., Nick Palmer moved with his family to Colorado in 1987. He graduated from Lake County High School in 2005, and played on the school's football team as a defensive end.

His father, the line coach, often used his son as an example for the rest of the team. "If I wanted to holler at someone and put someone on the spot, he was it," said Brad Palmer. "It made a helluva individual out of him."

When Nick Palmer announced his decision in his junior year to join the Marines, his family was surprised but proud.

"After I got over the initial feeling of being scared for him, I was happy for him, I was proud," said his brother, Dustin Palmer, 24, a Navy petty officer who serves aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

"I couldn't think of anything else that Nick would do. I honestly think he was born for it."

His mother remembered that months before Nick Palmer reported to boot camp, he started training to get into top physical condition.

Nick Palmer was deployed to Iraq in July, and was scheduled to come back to Colorado on leave in February. Three weeks ago, Palmer talked to his father by phone about his latest assignment.

"He was running a .50-caliber machine gun on the back of a Humvee and he felt like a target," said Brad Palmer. "He got into what is called a hot zone and a sniper shot him."

Dustin Palmer said he last talked to his brother a week ago Sunday. "He was all smiles and stories," his brother said.

Long before Nick Palmer joined the Marines, he enjoyed the outdoors, going rock climbing, camping, fishing and working on cars with his father.

From the Rocky Mountain News

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Nick Palmer slain by sniper