Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole, 22, of Bowling Green, Ky. died Jan. 24 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan: Poole was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Timothy Poole Sr. said today his son has wanted to be a Marine ever since he set eyes on a Marine in uniform at a Toys for Tots event as a child. Poole said his son walked up to the Marine standing at attention and looked at him. The Marine picked up 4-year-old Timothy Poole Jr. and held him. Poole Jr. told him that night he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. "I want to grow up to be a Marine," his father said of the conversation at his son's bedside. Poole said that the moment left a lifetime impression on his son. Poole Jr. attended Lee High School in Jacksonville before moving to Kentucky in 2005. He graduated from Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Ky., in 2007, principal Cindy Beals' first year at the school. "It's terrible that this has happened," Beals said. Poole's father is in Delaware waiting for his son's body to be returned to the U.S. The father of the fallen hero said he wants to have his son buried in Jacksonville and asked for donations to be made to the Wounded Warrior Project. "It's what he would've wanted," said Poole.