Marine Killed in Iraq Identified as His Unit Deploys to Help Fight ISIS

— -- The Marine killed in an ISIS rocket attack in Iraq was identified Sunday as the Defense Department announced that it was deploying additional troops to the area to help battle the terror organization.

Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, California, died Saturday from wounds suffered from an ISIS rocket attack on his base, the DoD said in a press release today.

Cardin's detachment, from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, had been steadily flowing into a base near Makhmur, Iraq over the past few weeks. Its mission is to protect U.S. forces assisting and training Iraqi troops.

Yesterday two rockets were fired onto the base. One of those rockets killed Cardin and wounded several other Marines from his unit.

Eventually those Iraqi forces will fight to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS control, but that operation is not expect to begin for months.

Cardin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His death represents only the second time an American service member has died fighting in Iraq since the U.S. military returned to the country in late 2014.

The total number of US troops in Iraq is around 3,850.