Gunfire kills Va. Marine in Afghanistan

Cody S. Childers, a 19-year-old lance corporal from Chesapeake was hit by enemy gunfire. The Marine died Friday in Helmand province, the Pentagon said.

Childers, a 2009 graduate of Grassfields High School in Chesapeake, wanted to be a Marine from boyhood, said his grandmother Peggy Ewell. He reported for training last August and deployed a little more than two months ago from Camp Lejeune.

The Pentagon said he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division in the II Marine Expeditionary Force.

In addition to his parents, his family included a brother, Ryan; a sister, Cassidy; a half brother, Chris; and a half sister, Stephanie Medina, Ewell said.

To read the full story about Lance Cpl. Cody S. Childers.