Sgt. Kenneth Schall ,

2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 1st Armored, May 25, 2005

Kenneth Schall was a top golfer in high school, but any sport was fair game. He played baseball and basketball, fished and recently took up snowboarding.

"It was very tough not to be touched by him in some way," said his mother, Terri, who said her son had a great sense of humor. Schall , 22, of Peoria, Ariz., was killed May 22 after his vehicle was involved in an accident south of Baghdad. He was based at Fort Riley.

Schall enrolled at Glendale Community College and was studying to become a history teacher when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2001. The event spurred him to join the Army.

He hoped to someday join the Phoenix Fire Department or a bomb squad.

Terri Schall said she last spoke to her son on Mother's Day.

"He sounded great - tired - but he said he was doing OK," she said.