Marine's family dreaded knock at door for seven years

A U.S. Marine who decided to join the military on Sept. 11, 2001, his 18th birthday, has died while serving in Afghanistan.
 
His fate left the grieving family shocked, but proud.

Staff Sgt. Michael Bock, 26, and his younger brother were both marines. Bock very much believed in what he was doing.

The husband and father was on his fourth tour of duty, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.  He was in southern Afghanistan last week when he was shot and killed.     

"For the last seven years, we've dreaded a knock on our front door," said Sandra Bock, the mother of the two marines. 

The knock came Friday, Aug. 13, a few weeks short of Michael Bock's ninth anniversary with the marines.

They last spoke with Michael a month ago before he left on a mission.

He worked to stop explosive devices and as a combat engineer.

"We know that Michael is an American hero," Sandy Bock said. "He knows that what he did is right for America."

It's a commitment to his country that started while he was a student at Leesburg High School.

Michael's parents say he was an active member of the ROTC at Leesburg High School before graduating in 2002. The crash of two airliners into the World Trade Center sealed his fate to become a marine.

His 18th birthday was on Sept. 11, 2001. Then he knew what his path would be. He has loved the marines from the moment he became one.

Sandra and David Bock say every time their son came home they would have a family get together at a lake in Nebraska, where his wife and son live.
 
Fighting back tears, the Bocks talked about some of their son's memories in a life cut short by a gunshot. 

He was one of a few marines selected to be in a movie, Fight of Our Fathers. 

"Michael is now a hero to all of America," Sandra Bock said.