TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A U.S. Marine from eastern Kern County has lost his life in a non-combat incident in Iraq, just two weeks after his deployment.

Lance Cpl. Ray A. Spencer II, 20, of Ridgecrest, died April 16 in Anbar province, according to a release from the Department of Defense.

The incident is under investigation, and few other details of Spencer's death have been released by the military, not even to his young widow, Athena Spencer.

"They've told us probably as much as they've told you," Mrs. Spencer said Tuesday from her home in Anaheim. "It was on base, so it wasn't combat."

Mrs. Spencer was told by a friend that her husband died from a gunshot wound, but that information has not been confirmed by military authorities.

SHOCK AND LOSS

When two uniformed Marines arrived at her home last week, Athena Spencer's world came crashing down.

"When I went to the door, I knew," she said.

Through her tears and confusion, she first thought it was some kind of terrible joke.

"Anthony," as she called her husband, had dreamed of joining the Marines since he was a little boy.

Not long before his death, he sent his wife a bouquet of white lilies for Easter.

"He was hoping to make a career in the Marines," Mrs. Spencer said.

KERN COUNTY ROOTS

Spencer, a 2006 graduate of Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Burroughs High Assistant Principal Bryan Auld remembered Spencer as an active and "focused" member of the school's Junior ROTC program. On Thursday, ROTC members will hold a tribute to Spencer on the Ridgecrest campus.

Retired assistant ROTC instructor George Anderson remembered Spencer as a "natural leader among the students."

"He had a great smile and a great sense of humor that probably got him into trouble at times," Anderson said from his home in Ridgecrest.

But he had a charisma that others recognized.

Ray Spencer was intent on joining the Marines after graduating from high school, Anderson said.

"We spend a lot of time telling students there's no glory in war, that it's ugly, a thing to be avoided," he recalled. "But if someone wants to serve their country, we will do everything we can to help them."

COMING HOME

Spencer's father, a Navy veteran who lives in Ridgecrest, went to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to escort his son's remains back to California.

After a transfer ceremony Sunday, the flag-draped transfer case was flown back to California, Mrs. Spencer said.

"He just got in today," she said Tuesday.

Arlington Mortuary in Riverside will be handling the funeral. Services are tentatively scheduled for Friday.