Onondaga, NY : 29-year-old man who was killed when his pickup truck crashed on Interstate 81 outside Syracuse on Sunday night, April 10, 2016

Doug Ayers didn't run, cower or hide when duty called.

Instead, the former U.S. Marine helped create a presence in Iraq and Afghanistan to deter terrorist activity.

Ayers served in the Marine Corps Infantry from 2005 to 2009, and made it back home safely to his family's dairy farm in Tully after three deployments.

So when his fellow Marines learned that Ayers -- the easy-going, brave foot soldier -- had died in an accident near his home, they couldn't believe it.

Ayers, 29, of Route 80 in Tully, was killedSunday night after his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck struck a guardrail on Interstate 81 south, a quarter-mile from the Route 11 / Nedrow exit, and rolled over several times, Onondaga County sheriff's deputies said.

"It sucks. I can't put it any other way," said Shane Kuhns, a friend and former Marine who served as a team leader in the same platoon as Ayers in 2006-07 in Iraq.

"You go over to Iraq and Afghanistan and you put your life on the line, and then to die on a local highway, it's not fitting," Kuhns said. "That's not the way it's supposed to happen."

Ayers returned for a second deployment to Iraq in 2007-08, and then served in Afghanistan, Kuhns said.

In Afghanistan, he served with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines Golf Company that was later featured on an episode of 60 Minutes. In that television program, Ayers can be seen in action -- creating a presence to drive out the Taliban and keep them away from the citizens -- during that deployment. Ayers posted that image on the cover of his Facebook page.

"The deployments were pretty rough," Kuhns said. "We lost friends... But the thing about Doug was that he was easy going, always level-headed. He knew what he had to do and always did it."

After Ayers completed his military service, he returned to Tully to help his family on the dairy farm, his friend said.

Kuhns said he called Ayers' father after learning of the crash.

"I told him there were many people who cared about (Doug)," said Kuhns, who now lives in Pennsylvania.

Family and friends still have many questions, he said.

"No one knows where he was going or what he was doing," Kuhns said.

Sheriff's investigators also say they do not know yet what caused the crash.

A service to remember Ayers is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Ballweg & Lunsford Funeral Home at 2584 Field Lane, LaFayette. A military service will follow.

Source :
U.S. Marine survives Iraq, Afghanistan; killed in I-81 crash in Nedrow