By Kelsey Givens

A 2007 Pahrump Valley High School graduate was killed Sunday in Afghanistan during an accident involving a broken electric generator.

Cpl. Jon-Luke Bateman, 22, was attempting to help out a fellow Marine when both men were electrocuted.

Shockwaves stretched from Afghanistan to Idaho to Pahrump as news reached the Marines’ families and friends.

Bateman was serving in Musa Qala, Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was killed alongside Lance Cpl. Kenneth Cochran, 20, of Wilder, Idaho, who was deployed with the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, out of Okinawa, Japan.

Bateman’s family met his body at Dover Air Force Base outside Dover, Delaware earlier this week. His body is en route to Pahrump, where services are set for Jan. 27 at Pahrump Family Mortuary. Graveside services are scheduled for the following day at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

A Facebook memorial page has already been created to memorialize the young Marine, who was on his first combat deployment when the accident occurred. Glimpses of Bateman’s life, simple thoughts he shared in the days leading up to the accident, are still available on his personal Facebook page.

On. Jan. 7, he complained about the heat where he was deployed.

“Back now loving life in some freakin heat,” he wrote sarcastically.

On Jan. 2, he wondered aloud, whether there was anything wrong with looking forward to playing a video game when he got home.

“Pretty sad when one of the biggest things I look forward too sic when I get back is a new video game,” he wrote.

On Dec. 31, he was just wishing to be home, video game or not.

“So im all demotivated . . . Cheer me up people. Hoping for home sooner then later but won’t happen,” he wrote.

He would be coming home sooner than he thought. His loss has devastated his friends and family.

Ben Waggoner, a close friend, said one of the things that struck him most about Bateman was his sense of duty.

“The last thing Jon wanted to do was stay in Afghanistan, but it was what he wanted to do,” he said. “No matter what you or anyone else said about this country, he would stand behind it.”

Waggoner, a 2008 Pahrump Valley High School graduate, said he met Bateman while both served in the same JROTC platoon. Bateman was Waggoner’s platoon leader his freshman year.

After that, Waggoner said he and his brother, Nate Waggoner, became fast friends with Bateman and his brother, Paul Bateman.

Waggoner last spoke with the fallen Marine a week before his passing.

“He was strong, one of those people no matter what he came up against he put his head down and ran right through it,” Waggoner said.

The Facebook memorial page set up for Bateman was created by his sister, Kristin Denise Nunley, on Thursday morning.

The page includes funeral arrangements, viewing information and a place for friends and family to leave comments.

Nunley noted on the page that her brother’s body will be escorted from the Air Force base back to Pahrump by the Las Vegas/Pahrump Chapter of the Viet Nam Vets riding club.

“Jon-Luke loved to ride and at 6’6″ he made any bike look small. When he arrives NV in Nevada he will be escorted by the Vegas/Pahrump Chapter of the motorcycle club my Uncle Bill is with from Nellis AFB back to the mortuary in Pahrump, NV in remembrance of him and in his honor,” a message on the page reads.

According to the time stamp on the Facebook memorial, the page will remain up until 7:30 a.m. April 19.

Nye County schools superintendant, Dr. Rob Roberts, said he is having all school flags flown at half mast for Bateman.

“We’re deeply saddened by the loss of a Pahrump Valley High School graduate who sacrificed his life for his country,” Roberts said, himself a retired military veteran.

Bateman will be buried with full military honors.

Though the body is being brought back to Pahrump, confusion over Bateman’s origins swirled earlier this week. Some news outlets reported the Marine was from Tulsa, Okla., while others reported he was from Pahrump.

His father, Tony Allen, took to Facebook Thursday morning to set the record straight.

“He was not a residant sic of Tulsa, OK. He only attended college for a short time, but did enlist into the Marine Corps from Tulsa. He is a resident of Pahrump, NV. He attended school there and went through ROTC,” a message on Allen’s Facebook page reads.

Those wishing to visit the memorial Facebook page for Bateman can go to the Pahrump Valley Time’s Facebook page for the link.