A Navy corpsman from Southern California was killed during combat operations in southern Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, the Pentagon announced Sunday.
Petty Officer 3rd Class James M. Swink, 20, of Yucca Valley, was killed Friday. He was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.
Navy corpsmen accompany infantry Marines on patrol to render medical assistance, sharing their risks.
-- Tony Perry in San Diego
[Updated at 11:27 a.m.: Readers are invited to share memories about James M. Swink on the California's War Dead database. The Times' interactive database of Californians killed in Afghanistan and Iraq allows you to search by name, high school, hometown and more, as well as read hundreds of obituaries and view links to personal websites and other news reports.]