Eichmann Strickland won’t be coming home for Christmas, this year or any other.

The 23-year-old Arlington native and Lakewood High School Class of 2003 graduate was killed in action in Afghanistan Sept. 9.

Strickland was a Navy corpsman serving with the 3rd Brigade Embedded Training Team of the 201st Corps in the Panwar province.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Strickland, Marine Lt. Nicholas Madrazo of Bothell and two other men were killed by two anti-tank mines, detonated by Taliban insurgents.

Strickland was treating wounded Marines and Afghans, and training Afghan soldiers how to treat their own wounded.

He planned on coming home for Christmas, and becoming a physician’s assistant after leaving the Navy.

Strickland worked with infants at the Marine Corps base in Camp Pendleton, Calif., and a year later, he assisted wounded during live-fire exercises at Camp Fuji, Japan.

He declined an early discharge from the Navy in June of this year, and instead extended his term of service to go to Afghanistan.

Strickland was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

His family is planning a public service for him Sept. 27, but they’ve asked for for privacy in the meantime.