A Hawai'i-based Marine was killed Saturday in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced yesterday.

Lance Cpl. Ryan J. Nass, 21, of Franklin, Wis., died from what the military called "a nonhostile gunshot wound" at Camp Blessing, Afghanistan.

A spokesman at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, where Nass was stationed, said he could not elaborate on what had happened. The incident is under investigation.

Nass was married.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, from the Kane'ohe Bay base. He was a rifleman in the 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Company E.

The unit deployed to Afghanistan in June for a seven-month mission. Nass is the third Marine from the unit killed during this deployment.

On Aug. 18, Lance Cpl. Phillip George, 22, from the Houston suburb of Pasadena, was killed during combat operations when his unit was ambushed by enemy troops.

And on June 25, Lance Cpl. Kevin B. Joyce, 19, of Klagetoh, Ariz., died after falling into the Pech River. He was in a vehicle that tumbled off a cliffside road and was thrown into the river, which was experiencing the worst flooding in 16 years.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.