Joe M. Jackson, a member of the Gila River Indian Community, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday. He was 22.
Jackson joined the U.S. Marine Corps two years ago. He had only been deployed in Afghanistan since March.
"That was my best friend. I lost my best friend," said his foster father, Shawn Marceau, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
Jackson spent most of his years on the Yakama Nation in Washington, where Marceau lives. He always wanted to enlist in the military and came from a long line of Marines.
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