Lance Cpl. Michael C. Bailey

Lance Cpl. Michael C. Bailey, 29, of Park Hills, Mo., died June 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, IMarine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif

Bailey's stepfather, Thomas Rodgers of Frankclay, Mo., said Friday that he was told Bailey had been seated in the fourth vehicle of a convoy when shots were fired. Bailey was shot in the neck, Rodgers said. "He had a really good heart," Rodgers said. Bailey was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. This was Bailey's second combat deployment. After high school, Bailey enlisted in the Navy first, was offered a bonus on the spot to sign again for another three years, and did, Rodgers said. After years in the Navy, Bailey switched branches and enlisted as a Marine in 2008, Kunze said. Rodgers said he helped raise Bailey since he was in elementary school and called him his son. Bailey enjoyed his time in the service, Rodgers said. "Mike was funny about stuff like that. When he was in the Navy, he was in a nuclear sub. He liked that, top secret." In 1999, Bailey graduated from West County High School in Leadwood, Mo. Every time Bailey would come home on leave, he would stop by the school and talk with teachers and the principal. "Mike was a very special kid, he was highly thought of by people who knew him," said the principal, Eric Moyers. "He never failed, after he made the rounds with friends and family, he'd always come back to the school and visit with myself and teachers he had at the school." They would catch up, reminisce. On his last visit to the school, Moyers recalled that Bailey said he was preparing to be sent to Afghanistan. "I thought the world of him," Moyers said. "Our community is hurting right now." Arrangements are incomplete. They are being handled by Boyer Funeral Home in Bonne Terre, Mo. Bailey's family has been hit hard by tragedy. His mother died unexpectedly in 2003. His sister was killed in a car crash when she was 25. A year before the sister's death, her baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, Rodgers said. "My whole family is gone," Rodgers said. "Michael is the last of them. "I figured he'd be the one to outlive us all. He always did the right thing, he never ran with the wrong crowd, he was just a good kid," he said.