CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The military says two North Carolina-based Marines have died during combat in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense said Wednesday that 21-year-old Cpl. Anthony L. Williams of Oxford, Pa., and 28-year-old Cpl. Michael W. Ouellette of Manchester, N.H., died Sunday in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Ouellette’s mother said he was killed by an improvised explosive device, but the military hasn’t released details.

Both Marines were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

CONCORD, N.H. — Flags have been lowered to half-staff around New Hampshire in honor of a Marine from Manchester who was killed in Afghanistan and is being buried at the State Veteran’s Cemetery in Boscawen.

Marine Cpl. Michael Ouellette, 28, was killed March 22 while supporting combat operations in the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. His mother said he was killed by an improvised explosive device.

Ouellette, a 1999 graduate of Memorial High School in Manchester, joined the Marines in 2005. He was deployed to Afghanistan in November after two deployments to Iraq.

More than 400 people paid their respects to Ouelette Sunday night at a Manchester funeral home.

BOSCAWEN, N.H. — Hundreds of people turned out to pay their final respects to a Manchester Marine killed in combat in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Michael Ouellette, 28, was killed March 22 in an explosion. He was buried March 30 at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Boscawen.

It was gray and rainy, but Ouellette’s family said it was the kind of weather he loved. Ouellette was serving his third tour of duty since 2006 when he was killed.

A 1999 graduate of Manchester Memorial High School, Ouellette started a culinary career, but he found his calling to serve while visiting New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, friends and family say.

Silvio Rodriguez, a fellow Marine who served in Ouellette’s unit overseas, described him as articulate, rough when he needed to be, and helpful.

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Escher watched as Cpl. Michael W. Ouellette became a team leader and then a squad leader.

“He was always a leader, even as a junior guy,” Escher said, adding that his friend didn’t even have to go on his last deployment, but “the guys under him didn’t have combat experience.” Ouellette, he said, wanted to make sure they were taken care of.

Ouellette, 28, of Manchester, N.H., died March 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. He was a 1999 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

He had gone to culinary school in California after graduating.

He deployed twice to Iraq: first from March 2006 to September of that year and then from July 2007 to January 2008.

Alan Ouellette said that his brother “was always a role model for myself and others,” and that he hoped that “we can make his legacy as big as his life.”

“He was one of the few kids that would actually come and talk to us and have a conversation with us,” said Arthur Adamakos, his former principal. Most kids don’t.”

He is survived by his parents, Leonard and Donna.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The mother of a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan has started a fund to benefit veterans.

The fund is named in honor of Michael Ouellette, a 1999 graduate of Memorial High School in Manchester. He was serving his third tour of duty since 2006 when he was killed in combat in March.

Donna Ouellette created the fund to benefit the Veterans Service program of Easter Seals New Hampshire. The program has helped more than 600 veterans and their families and is managing more than 200 cases. Services may include setting up counseling and financial assistance.