Cpl Adam J. Buyes
Died: November 26, 2011

Cpl. Adam J. Buyes, 21, of Salem, Ore., died Nov. 26 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. This incident is under investigation.

Stars and Stripes reports:

"The 21-year-old joined the Marines Corps in January 2009 after graduating from McKay High School in Salem the year before. Buyes’ brother Joshua is also a Marine, The Oregonian newspaper reported.

"'He cared for his Marines as if they were brothers from the beginning,' said 1st Sgt. Daniel J. Wilson, the battalion first sergeant, in a statement released Tuesday by the Marines on Okinawa Tuesday. 'Cpl. Buyes was just one of those Marines that made being in Okinawa, Japan, or deployed to Afghanistan better and more enjoyable for everyone.'

"A high-school athlete, Buyes 'had high morals, a great work ethic,' his high school football coach Jay Minyard told The Oregonian. 'His peers loved him; his teachers loved him.'

"A memorial service will be held Dec. 4 at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Marine officials said."
According to the Oregonian, Cpl. Buyes is the 31st Oregonian to die in Afghanistan. Full list of Oregon and Southwest Washington servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan before Buyes is here.

About 400 people attended the memorial service for Marine Cpl. Adam Buyes today at New Hope Foursquare Church in Salem. Four pastors spoke during the service, all of them having been a part of Buyes' life growing up. Family, friends and even strangers offered tributes during a sharing time about the young man who grew up in Salem and graduated from McKay High School in 2008.

"Adam was a stranger to me, but now he is my hero," said a man who introduced himself as Bobby.

At the end of the service, a representative from the local Marine Corps League detachment presented the family, on behalf of Congressman Kurt Schrader, a flag that was flown at the U.S. Capitol.

Former Gov. Ted Kulongoski attended the service, as did current Senate President Peter Courtney. Gov. John Kitzhaber and Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Rees of the Oregon National Guard visited the Buyes family beforehand.

Cpl. Buyes' casket, draped with an American flag, was carried out of the church and placed into a hearse by a Marine Honor Guard unit. A group of Patriot Guard Riders led a procession to Restlawn Memory Gardens Gardens in West Salem, where Buyes is being interred.

The graveside service included a ceremonial three-volley salute by five members of the Honor Guard, the playing of Taps and the folding of the flag that was on the casket. The flag was then presented to Buyes' parents, Mike and Carla Buyes.

Their son was killed Nov. 26 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan. He was 21.