Sgt. Travis Moothart , 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Div.,

Jan. 27, 2004

Travis A. Moothart 's older brother had served in Bosnia and Kosovo, and when the younger Moothart wanted to join the Army, his family resisted. Their fears increased when he was deployed to Iraq.

"I think I prepared myself when he went over there," said his mother, Sue Moothart , of Brownsville, Ore. "I knew his life was in danger every single day." Sgt. Moothart , 23, died with two other members of his unit Jan. 27, 2004, when an improvised explosive device detonated west of Baghdad. Moothart enlisted in April 2000, and was sent to Iraq in September from Fort Riley, Kan. He also had done of tour of duty in Korea.

At funeral services for him in Brownsville, Tex., one of his teachers said the lessons had been mutual. " Travis reminded me that humor doesn't have to be at another's expense," said Bob Hancock, his former social studies teacher.

Krista Hartman, another high school teacher, recalled a student who was "always full of mischief."