Maryville Daily Times

The grief was echoed throughout the Blount County community as family and friends similarly remembered Sgt. Michael Ferschke, a 2003 graduate of Maryville High School. The 23-year-old soldier was killed Sunday in Iraq, according to news reports.

The young man that teachers and administrators remember had a genial soul. "He enjoyed everything he did and (knew how to live) in the moment," said [drama teacher Sherry] Petrowski. "I admired his ability to laugh at himself and move on. There was just something in there that made him special," she said. "There was a willingness to serve to his full capacity -- he was my go-to guy."

Knoxville News Sentinel

The 22-year-old Marine Corps sergeant and 2003 Maryville High School graduate was killed by gunfire Sunday while conducting a house-to-house search in Iraq, according to close family friend Doug Cooper.

[..]

The Maryville native followed through on his well-known hopes to enlist just after high school. He had been deployed to Iraq since March from his station in Okinawa, where he left his newlywed Japanese wife, Hota, who is pregnant and due to deliver in January, Cooper said.