One of the Marines was a 19-year-old kid who could barely wait to graduate from Esperanza High School to join the military and eventually become a cop - just like his father.

The other was a seven-year active-duty veteran and high-ranking SWAT officer for the Los Angeles Police Department who was married to a naval officer and had a 9-month-old daughter.

The two Yorba Linda residents were killed early Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan, relatives and authorities said.

Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, who entered the military just weeks out of high school in 2008, was in a vehicle that was destroyed by an improvised explosive device, said his father, Jon Centanni, a sergeant in charge of investigations for the Santa Ana Police Department's gang unit.

"He wanted to serve his country," Centanni said. "I supported it, and I still do."

Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle, 45, also was killed, said his father, Kenneth A. Cottle, 74, of Villa Park.

"He was a warrior - that's what he liked to do," Cottle said. "Anything physical."

Friends and family were planning a homecoming party for Cottle when he was due home at the end of May. He reportedly is the first active LAPD officer to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Cottle's wife, Emily, is a naval officer stationed in Hawaii with their daughter, Kaila Jane. Emily Cottle could not immediately be reached for comment. The longtime couple, whose home was in Yorba Linda, got married about a year ago.

The Department of Defense would not confirm the deaths. A spokesman said a statement was likely by Friday.

Cottle and Centanni reportedly were traveling with two other Marines when their armored vehicle struck an IED. The condition of the other two Marines was not immediate available.

Representatives from the Marine Corps informed both the Centanni and Cottle families of the deaths about 3 p.m. Wednesday. They were to meet again with the families Thursday afternoon to detail more about the circumstances of their deaths.

"We don't have all the facts yet," Kenneth Cottle said.

The bodies of Centanni and Cottle will be flown to Delaware and then to Los Alamitos, probably next week, Kenneth Cottle said.

FRIENDSHIP

Centanni and Cottle enjoyed a personal friendship despite the big difference in their ages, friends say. They became close friends after their deployment, with the older Marine taking the younger under his wing, they said.

Both Marines were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The men were deployed in November on a mission to stop Taliban soldiers and supplies coming from Pakistan, according to published reports about the battalion.

Centanni was a light-armored vehicle driver. He played football for Esperanza in 2007.

The mood at Esperanza High School on Thursday was somber as word spread that one of its own had lost his life in battle.

Office employees fielded several calls from alumni Thursday morning who wanted to know if the rumors about Rick Centanni were true. The school later posted an "in memoriam" note on its Web site in his honor.

"There is a motto at this school that says, 'Once an Aztec, always an Aztec.' And it's a loss being felt by the entire Esperanza family right now," Assistant Principal Harry Dolen said.

Centanni's football coach, Bill Pendleton, got emotional as he recalled Centanni, who wore No. 30 and played linebacker his junior and senior years on the Esperanza varsity football team that won league titles both years.

"He was an average athlete, but he played with so much joy and enthusiasm," Pendleton said. "He was a great teammate and it's no surprise at all to me that he chose to join the one other thing with as much camaraderie - the U.S. military."

Pendleton said a photo of Centanni will be added to a "Hall of Fame" in the school's weight room so players can honor him for years to come. And they also will petition the school district to add a bronze plaque on a campus wall so all students can honor him.

"We all need to remember and appreciate what he did for all of us," Pendleton said, choking back tears. "He will be greatly missed by all of us."

Centanni's mother and half-brothers and sisters live in Arizona.

The young Marine called his father weekly. They last spoke Monday.

"He sounded totally up," Jon Centanni said. "He loved what he was doing, and loved the guys he was with over there. He was a great kid, a great son. It's a terrible loss, and he will be missed."

Centanni would have turned 20 next month.

The Santa Ana Police Department has set up an account and Web site for donations in Centanni's memory, at http://www.rickcentanni.com/

They hope to use the money to set up a scholarship at Esperanza High School in Centanni's name and have a plaque for him installed at the Yorba Linda Veterans Memorial.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said there likely would be a full departmental turnout for a memorial for Centanni.

"When something like this happens, everybody hurts," Walters said.

A 'WARRIOR'

As a youth, Robert Cottle split time between his divorced parents' homes in Whittier and in San Diego, never applying himself much to schoolwork, his father said.

When a family friend suggested that he attend a summer camp in Texas run by former Marines, the then-15-year-old jumped at the idea. He liked the experience so much he was back for more the following summer, said his father.

After enlisting in the Marines at 18 and being sent on active duty to Africa, Germany and Hawaii, Robert Cottle decided, after seven years, that he wanted to become a police officer.

He stayed in the Marines as a reservist when he entered the LAPD academy in 1990. He became a member of the elite SWAT unit six years later and rose to become assistant team leader, his father said.

"This deeply saddens me, especially since I've known 'RJ' for over 20 years," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement. "He is a fine man and a great example of the best LAPD has to offer. He will be missed."

In November 2008, Cottle spoke at a Veterans Day Observance Program hosted by the city of Placentia. He presented Mayor Scot Nelson with an American flag that was flown during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The commander of the fallen Marines' battalion, Lt. Col. Michael S. Martin, wrote in a letter to family members when it deployed in November that it would likely be in Afghanistan for around seven months.

"This will be a challenging period for all of us," Martin wrote in the letter, which was posted on the battalion's Web site. "Because of the unique skill sets of (the battalion), our location will be very austere and I suspect our operational tempo to be high... meaning we'll be busy."

Jon Centanni said his son's death hasn't made him bitter about the military.

"Just say prayers and keep supporting the troops," he said. "Don't get a bad attitude because this happened. It's a part of war."