CAMP PENDLETON --- Two young Marines based at Camp Pendleton were killed in Iraq last week when a car filled with explosives blew up, according to the base and the Pentagon.

The men, both from California, were with Camp Pendleton's Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment of the First Marine Division.

Both had earned Purple Heart awards, meaning they had survived other battle injuries before the attack that killed them.

Lance Cpl. Brandon C. Dewey, 20, of Tracy, and Cpl. Carlos H. Arellanopandura, 22, of Los Angeles, died Friday in the attack, which was a suicide bombing, according to a statement from Camp Pendleton.

Their deaths brought the number of North County-based Marines killed in the Iraq war to 271. At least 2,237 American troops and Defense Department workers have died in Iraq since the war began.

In Tracy, a town about the size of Carlsbad tucked just north of San Jose, Dewey's family said the young man had survived a previous suicide bombing in 2004 only to die in a similar attack on Friday.

Before leaving for his second tour, Dewey told his parents not to grieve too much if he were to die in Iraq because he always wanted to be a Marine and believed in what he was doing.

"He told his sister that's what he was made for," said Dewey's mother, Julia Conover, on Monday.

Flowers and food from well-wishers filled the family's home, where a table overflowed with pictures of Dewey -- at prom, with family, hanging out with friends.

Dewey was the fifth service member from the town to die in the Iraq war. The family has not made funeral plans yet, but intends to hold a public memorial service, they said.

Family members of Arellanopandura could not be located for comment. In addition to his Purple Heart, he had received a number of other awards for service and good conduct in his three-and-a-half-year career with the Marines, according to a statement from the base.

Dewey had also earned additional awards for service and good conduct.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.