The Kaneohe-based Marine killed Friday in Afghanistan is being remembered in his hometown as a popular young man who was active in church and volunteer work with youth.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune says that a Facebook memorial set up by the sister of Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson has already drawn hundreds of comments from friends and strangers.

Swenson, 20, of Rochester, Minn., was killed in Helmand province when the vehicle he was in hit an improvised explosive device.

Swenson was a mortarman with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. His unit was sent to Afghanistan in November.

The Rev. Norman Wahl, senior pastor of the Bethel Lutheran Church in Rochester, told the Star Tribune that Swenson was heavily involved in youth activities.

"He was involved with pretty much everything we did," Michael Beckmann, Bethel's youth director, told Swenson's hometown Rochester Post-Bulletin. "He was a good listener as well as a good friend to the younger kids in our youth group."

Wahl told the Post-Bulletin that Swenson was a "quiet leader," a description Beckmann said was fitting.

Swenson had a good outlook on life, Beckmann said, and set a positive example through his actions and how he responded to different situations.

Swenson also was a standout in softball for the Bethel Believers in a local church league.

"The last game he ever played in was the championship game," Wahl told the Star Tribune. "He hit two home runs, and one of them was a grand slam."

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On the Net:

Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/local/89941772.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Rochester Post-Bulletin: http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=446347