LAKE ORION -- Staff Sgt. Raymond James Plouhar only had 38 days left on his second tour in Iraq when he was killed detonating a roadside bomb Monday in the Al Anbar province. Plouhar, 30, was in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was conducting combat operations Monday.

The Lake Orion native lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his wife, Leigha, and two sons, ages 9 and 5. He was the 86th Michigan service member killed in Iraq, according to the Web site icasualties.org, which tracks military deaths.

Plouhar joined the Marines after graduating from Lake Orion Community High School in 1996, where he played football and wrestled, said his father, Raymond Anthony Plouhar. "It was his whole life. That's what he wanted to do, serve his country," his father said.

Monday's blast was the third to strike Plouhar in the last four months, his father said, adding that his son's job was to detonate and clear the explosive devices with a radio transmitter. He suffered concussions from the first two explosions, but refused Purple Heart medals for his injuries, his father said.

"He got a little too close this time."

A former Marine recruiter based in Flint, Plouhar was in the Michael Moore film "Fahrenheit 9/11," but was told he was being interviewed for a Discovery Channel documentary, his father said. "It broke his heart that they tricked him into that," he said. "He was disgruntled about that."

Plouhar was an avid fan of the Detroit Lions and Tigers, and often asked about the teams when he called home, his father said.

He also donated a kidney to an uncle about five years ago, his father said.