Captain Warren A. Frank of the U.S. Marine Corps died in Iraq on Tuesday.
His mother's neighbor said Frank's service there made him an "instant hero."
"Going back for his second tour of duty I think is above and beyond the call of duty. Which makes him a hero in my eyes," said Roy Wergers of Maineville.
Frank, 26, was assigned to the Fifth Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company and was a member of the Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa Japan.
"We are all in grief here in our community," continued Wergers.
The Marine Corps is saying little publicly about how Captain Frank died. They did say, though, that he was serving in Nineveh Province.
Wergers described the scene that no military family ever wants to see.
"They pulled up to my neighbors house. Two Marines got out and I said 'Oh my God," said Wergers.
"It happens in the movies," he continued, "but it never happens at home."
Arrangements for Captain Frank haven't been announced.
Members of his family declined to speak to 9News Wednesday night.
