Marine Sgt. Rios was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, California. Rios was shot while standing through the turret of his infantry amtrack during a firefight in central Iraq. Duane and his younger brother were raised by their grandmother. During his senior year, he and future wife, Erica, fell in love after he offered to lend her his jacket at a bonfire. As the night got colder, he asked to share it with her. They graduated from Griffith High School in Griffith, Indiana, in 1996 and married a few years later. When Duane decided to join the Marines, the couple agreed the Marine life would enable them to grow as a couple and see new places. They had been stationed at Camp Pendleton for three years and were living in Marine housing in San Clemente that offered a panoramic view of the ocean. Duane was a gentle giant, a 6-foot-3-inch hulk of a man who took pride in his health and spent his free time in the gym where he had gotten a part-time job. He was a lighthearted person, and friends were drawn to him. He made the people around him happy. His laugh was infectious and he would laugh so hard that tears ran down his face. He was also a giving person and put others before himself. Duane gave his wife the strength she needs to survive his death. "There's no way he'd leave me behind knowing I couldn't take it," she said.
Marine Sgt. Rios was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, California. Rios was shot while standing through the turret of his infantry amtrack during a firefight in central Iraq. Duane and his younger brother were raised by their grandmother. During his senior year, he and future wife, Erica, fell in love after he offered to lend her his jacket at a bonfire. As the night got colder, he asked to share it with her. They graduated from Griffith High School in Griffith, Indiana, in 1996 and married a few years later. When Duane decided to join the Marines, the couple agreed the Marine life would enable them to grow as a couple and see new places. They had been stationed at Camp Pendleton for three years and were living in Marine housing in San Clemente that offered a panoramic view of the ocean. Duane was a gentle giant, a 6-foot-3-inch hulk of a man who took pride in his health and spent his free time in the gym where he had gotten a part-time job. He was a lighthearted person, and friends were drawn to him. He made the people around him happy. His laugh was infectious and he would laugh so hard that tears ran down his face. He was also a giving person and put others before himself. Duane gave his wife the strength she needs to survive his death. "There's no way he'd leave me behind knowing I couldn't take it," she said.
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