Pennsylvania Marine killed in Afghan fighting

A former football player and honor student from Indiana County was killed this week while on patrol with his Marine Corps unit in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Lance Cpl. Joshua Twigg, 21, formerly of Clymer, was serving as a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment from Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to the Department of Defense.

Twigg is the son of Randy and Terri Twigg of Northern Cambria, Cambria County, who were notified of his death Thursday. They were not granting interviews.

An uncle, the Rev. August Twigg of Greensburg, pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church in Latrobe, said his nephew "was a fine young man. He volunteered to go to Afghanistan. He didn't have to go. He was proud to be a Marine."

The Marine's aunt, Donna Twigg of Glen Campbell, Indiana County, said, "You wouldn't hear anything bad about Joshua. He was too young to be taken like this."

His death brings the number of American service members killed in Afghanistan to 1,161 as of Friday.

Twigg was known as a popular student who graduated in 2007 from Penns Manor Area High School, where he was enrolled in several vocational and technical classes.

School officials held a brief ceremony in his honor before Penns Manor's football game last night.

Clymer Mayor Dennis Clawson said the community was shocked to learn of Twigg's death.

"We've seen this before on TV, but when it happens to a guy like this, it really hits home," said Clawson, commander of the Clymer American Legion Post.

Vince Ciocca, a math teacher who taught Twigg in his sophomore year, remembers him as "a good kid."

"I could joke around with him. He was a good kid to have in class. It's been a long time. I didn't even know he was in the Marines. This is all too bad," Ciocca said.

According to the Defense Department, Twigg died "as a result of a hostile incident while supporting combat operations" in the province.

Last month, his unit escaped unharmed from a similar skirmish.

The unit engaged in a firefight with elements of the Taliban on Aug. 16, according to the Marines. No members of the regiment were wounded in the incident, which involved a roadside bomb attack.

Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan is considered a Taliban stronghold. It is one of the country's largest producers of opium.

Twigg joined the Marines in July 2007 and was previously deployed to Iraq from September 2008 to April 2009. He was promoted to lance corporal May 1.

It was not known when his body would be returned to the United States.

Clawson said Twigg's death was "heartbreaking."

"When he does come home, I'm going to give him a last salute. The whole town will."