Second Lt. James J. Cathey, 24, of Reno, Nev., was killed near Al Karmah, Iraq. He had been in Iraq since mid-July and was on his third mission, said Caroline Cathey, his mother.

He leaves behind his wife Catherine, pregnant with the couple's first child, and a 9-year-old daughter, Stacy, who lives in Nevada.

"This was just the beginning of their life together, Caroline Cathey said about her son and his wife. They had been married for a little more than a year.

James Cathey served with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune.

Cathey, who grew up in Reno, finished high school early to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He had wanted to be in the Marine Corps since he was a young boy, his mother said.

He went into the Marine Reserves to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology.

In his free time, Cathey enjoyed hunting chukar, a game bird in the pheasant family, tying flies for fly fishing and shooting skeet, Caroline Cathey said.

He will be buried in Nevada.

In one of his last calls to his mother, he told her he was impressed with Iraqi society. Caroline Cathey asked for support of military personnel still serving in Iraq.

(News researcher Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.)

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