Marine Sgt. Thomas Houser was looking for insurgents in western Iraq when he was shot and killed by enemy fire in January.

As the most recent casualty of war from the Council Bluffs area, his name has been inscribed on the Veterans Plaza wall in the city's Bayliss Park.

A ceremony will be held at 5:15 p.m. today to unveil the inscription.

Houser's mother, M.E. Ward, and father, John Houser, said they appreciate the ceremony. Tom Houser's brother, Joe Houser, is also a Marine, as were their father and grandfather.

Joe Houser, a staff sergeant assigned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., is scheduled to go to Iraq in August. He will be at the ceremony today, his parents said.

"I'm very proud of (Tom) and his brother," said John Houser. "Tom served his country to the very end, and Joe is still serving.

"I am very proud of the Council Bluffs community, as well, for how they have recognized my son's contribution."

Tom Houser's parents said he died Jan. 3 in Anbar province from hostile small-arms fire while on a mission. Ward said her son was the first one to enter the building where they were checking for insurgents.

Two enemy bullets hit Houser from the left side, in the exposed armholes of his bulletproof vest, his parents said.

Tom Houser, 22, was a 2000 graduate of St. Albert High School. On his second tour of Iraq, he was assigned to the 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, which is part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force based in Camp Lejeune.

Houser, whose family was given his Purple Heart, was the city's first serviceman lost in the line of duty since the Vietnam War era.

The Veterans Plaza wall was built about two years ago to honor those from Pottawattamie County who died in battle.

The wall has more than 500 names from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, according to the county's Veterans Affairs Office.

Ron Hopp, the city's parks director, said Tom Houser's name is the first under the Persian Gulf War heading.

"I think it's going to be great," Ward said about her son's name going on the wall. "What people don't understand is, I've never been angry. He was doing what he wanted to do."