William Koprince remembered

Marine Lance Cpl. William Craig Koprince Jr. was looking forward to completing his second combat tour in Iraq, coming home to Tennessee and starting college, his parents say.

But the 24-year-old died Wednesday while on foot patrol in Al Anbar province, killed by a roadside bomb, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Thursday.

“He was always trying to reassure us that he wasn’t in danger,” his mother, Bernice Koprince, said.

Koprince was born in Southgate, Mich., grew up in Lenoir City, where he moved with his parents at age 10, and graduated from Lenoir City High School in 2001.

“He and I butted heads a lot, because we were a lot alike,” his mother said. “He had to learn the hard way. He had to bang his head against the wall a few times to learn his lesson.”

The hard way included enlisting in the Marines in September 2003.

“I tried to convince him to go across the hallway to the Air Force recruiter,” his father, William Koprince, said. “But he wanted to be the best. He wanted to be a Marine.”

Koprince spent his first tour of duty in Iraq from March to October of 2005, helping guard the border with Syria along the Euphrates River. He returned to the U.S. last fall, then headed back to Iraq this summer for what he hoped would be the last time.

Koprince was a member of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He had been stationed near Al Habbaniyah in central Iraq since July and planned to come home in February.

“At first he wanted to make it a career,” his mother said. “But he decided he wanted to get out and start his life.”

Parents and son e-mailed back and forth and talked now and then on the phone. The parents kept each e-mail, all short and to the point.

“He was a guy of few words,” his father said. “When he called, he knew there were guys with wives and kids who were waiting for the phone. He wanted them to be able to talk with their families.”

They talked about his plans to study landscaping at college. He joked sometimes about the weather, the boredom and the things he missed — especially a good steak.

His last e-mail was on Christmas Eve. “Not much to pass here, but Santa did visit last night,” he wrote. “Three weeks or so, then we are outa (sic) here!!!”

His parents say they can take comfort and pride in the life their son lived.

“He did his best,” his father said. “That’s what he chose. That’s what he wanted to do.”

Funeral arrangements were incomplete. The family expects his body to return to East Tennessee next week.

From the Oak Ridge News

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William C. Koprince killed during combat operations