CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq -- “On 15 October at 4:11 in the afternoon, I received the toughest news I have had to deal with as a company commander. A Weapons Company Marine, one of my Marines, had been killed. This was Sgt. Adams. We honor him today,” said Capt. Thomas G. Ziegler Jr., the commanding officer of Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Marines from the battalion gathered on the shores of Lake Baharia under the light of a setting sun Oct. 22, to pay homage to one of their own. Sergeant Mark P. Adams, a 25-year-old, Morrisville, N.C., native was killed in action when an improvised explosive device hit the vehicle he was traveling in. He volunteered to deploy to Iraq, joining the battalion shortly before they deployed. Adams had already served a four-year enlistment and was attending college when he volunteered. “He felt that even though he had completed 4 years in the Corps, he wasn’t finished because he had to go through this time in the sandbox with the rest of us,” said Sgt. Jeremy Blake. “He just wanted to be on the ground leading and helping Marines.”“He gained the respect of those he worked for and from those who worked for him,” said 1st Sgt. John E. Sackett, the company first sergeant for Weapons Company. “He made a positive impact on all of Weapons Company and we consider it an honor and a privilege to have worked with him.”Adams is survived by his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Phillip E. Adams.