Minnesota Marine Killed in Afghanistan

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A 21-year-old Marine from Minnesota has died in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense said Thursday that Cpl. Taylor J. Baune, of Andover, died in combat Wednesday in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Baune was a 2009 graduate of Andover High School, where Assistant Principal Bob Bursaw calls it "sad news." He says Baune transferred to Andover from Anoka High School during his junior year.

Baune was married to 20-year-old Colleen Crooker Baune, a graduate of Anoka High School.

His father-in-law, Randy Crooker, says they got married in Las Vegas in March, shortly before he shipped out to Afghanistan. They were living in San Diego, where his unit was based. He says Taylor Baune was a  "happy-go-lucky guy" who was always smiling and "always lit up the room when he came in."

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