John Kier, a specialist with Fort Lewis' Stryker force now serving in Iraq, arrived home recently on a two-week leave.
The 24-year-old Kier, who attended Auburn Riverside High, didn't have any trouble figuring out how to fill the time.
He took time to visit students at Kent's Meadow Ridge Elementary School who have been writing to him.
Then he married his fiancee, Jessica Pasquel.
``It was a beautiful wedding and they lacked for nothing,'' said his mother, Kathy Kier.
The newlyweds headed off for a brief honeymoon on Whidbey Island before he returns to Iraq.