Cpl. Brian P. Prening, 24, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was born in July 1980 and grew up with his twin brother, Bill, and little sister, Ann. He attended Plymouth High School, where he ran track and field, played football, and wrestled. After graduating in 1998, he completed the tool and die program at Lakeshore Technical College, earning his associate degree. In 1999, looking to challenge himself, he joined the Marines with a couple of his friends and went into the reserve. He worked at Kohler Co. as a machine set-up man alongside his father until June 2004, when he was called back to active duty for Iraq. He married Amy Urning in August 2004, becoming a father to her son, Alex, and the couple was expecting their first child together, Brian Jr., when he deployed. As a corporal and fireteam leader with the Marine Corps Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, he served in the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad. On November 12, 2004, his unit was surrounded and attacked by over 70 insurgents in Yusufiyah. From a rooftop under heavy fire, with two fellow Marines' weapons malfunctioning, he moved to help one of them fix his weapon and was shot in the process, dying of his wounds. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with the combat "V" device for heroism.
"An avid hunter, Brian inspired a Wisconsin law passed in January 2006 allowing families to transfer the hunting preference points of a deceased hunter to a child — his family transferred his points to a young boy with cerebral palsy. In 2021, he was honored at the Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day NASCAR race, his name carried on the windshield of driver Ryan Newman's car. His family's tribute at The High Ground remembers him as a man who loved his wife's son "as his own.""
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old."
— Laurence Binyon