Sgt. Jarrod Black , 1st Battalion, 34th Armor, Dec. 12, 2003

In Sgt. Jarrod Black , family members and colleagues saw charisma and what they described as a devastating smile.

One of the last things he did was agree with his wife, Shawna, on the name of a daughter they expected the following April. Black learned of his wife's pregnancy days after arriving in Iraq in September. "He had a smile that everyone loved," Shawna said after a Dec. 20 service in Peru, Ind., his home. "I can only hope that my daughter has that smile."

Added his mother, Jane Black , "if the room wasn't smiling when he came in, they were smiling when he came out."

Black , 26, died Dec. 12, 2003, in Ramadi, Iraq, when insurgents detonated a bomb alongside a road. He was stationed at Fort Riley. His brother, Brandon, also serving in Iraq at the time, was sent home early.

Two days before he died, Black got a chance to call home.

"He said he loved me and he was being safe. Then he called his dad at work and got to speak with him for a little while," said Jane Black . "God wanted me to have one more conversation with my son."

He was the father of two sons, ages 2 and 3, from a previous relationship.

Bill Shuey, a longtime English teacher at Peru High School, said much of the community mourned Black 's death.

" Jarrod was a huge (Peru) Tiger fan," Shuey said. "He was always in the front row cheering on Peru, supporting the Tigers. He was an energetic young man who was full of life."