RICHMOND HILL, Ga. -- The Defense Department is confirming that a 29-year-old Marine from southeast Georgia has been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department said Sunday that Capt. Matthew C. Freeman, of Richmond Hill, died Friday while supporting combat operations in the Kapisa province. Richmond Hill is about 20 miles southwest of Savannah.

Freeman was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan.

Gary Freeman said his son was engaged to be married. He said Matt Freeman was a graduate of Richmond Hill High School and the second in his family to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.

"He was a proud Marine, doing what he wanted to do," Gary Freeman said. "He was a true patriot. He loved his mother, his family and his fiancée, Theresa Hess."

Matt Freeman's younger sister, Ginny, is a midshipman in the Navy.