"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother." - William Shakespeare, from "King Henry V"

Only days after returning from deployment, members of BLT 1/8 met at Spanky's Sports Bar and Grill. But the biggest presence in the room was the memory of Cpl. Gary Koehler, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Haditha on Nov. 1. He was 21 years old and left behind a wife, Hillary.

The members of Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, came to Spanky's on Dec. 7 to witness the dedication of an electric wheelchair, donated in Koehler's memory to the Wounded Warriors barracks on Camp Lejeune. The wheelchair has Koehler's name and date of death embroidered on the back of the headrest.

"This means as long as a wounded warrior needs and uses this chair, then Cpl. Koehler will always be with us, and supporting his brothers," said J.C. Hardee, a retired Marine colonel.

He and retired Marines Mark Schallow and Spanky Feest have been behind several fund-raisers to benefit the Wounded Warriors program; other gifts include a poker table.

But this state-of-the-art wheelchair, dressed with camouflage rims, is a personal tribute, too.

Koehler's photo on a tribute Web site shows a handsome, freckled young man; an article in his hometown newspaper of Ypsilanti, Mich. recounts his high school athleticism (on the baseball and football teams) and his bravery in Fallujah, where he was awarded a Purple Heart for a bullet wound to the leg.

He was on reconnaissance patrol in Haditha, in tight urban terrain, when the roadside bomb took him in November. The blast also injured a Navy corpsman.

Though tough in combat, the Marine assault man was long on compassion.

"Some of the guys had captured a lizard in Iraq, and wanted to put it on target and shoot it, but he said, 'Let's not do that; it's not hurting us,'" said 1st Lt. Mike Brown, who was Koehler's platoon commander during this most recent deployment with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

"He was always positive," Brown remembered. "He was a calm, professional Marine, and the kind of guy everybody likes."

Koehler was the point man for his team during their 21-day mission in Iraq; earlier in the deployment, BLT 1/8 had the distinction of returning to Lebanon, where they and the other elements of the 24th MEU evacuated about 15,000 civilians.

It was in his first deployment to Iraq in 2004 that Koehler served with Mike Briscoe. It was his father, Kevin Briscoe, who financed the wheelchair with veterans Doug Burnsworth and Bob Keppler.

"We can pray, we can send care packages, but I think someone needed to mention Gary's name," said the elder Briscoe, owner of Hoy Transfer in State College, Pennsylvania. "My son was pretty shook up over it."

Marines and sailors from the Wounded Warriors barracks, which now houses more than 60 on Lejeune, were grateful for the gesture.

"This shows how much the American public cares," said Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell, OIC of the barracks. "We're America's team right now."

And that team takes care of their own.