Army Sgt. Devin C. Poche

Died March 31, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

25, of Jacksonville, N.C.; assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; died March 31 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, near Tikrit, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

---

Soldier was a fan of lifting weights

The Associated Press

Devin C. Poche posted to the blog bodybuilding.com in December saying “weightlifting is a passion.” On the site, Poche said he was 5 feet 9, 202 pounds, and could bench press 289 pounds.

After his death, an Army friend and fellow bodybuilder posted on his personal blog: “Lift in Peace Poche. You can rest between sets.”

Poche, 25, of Jacksonville, N.C., died March 31 near Tikrit of injuries sustained from a non-combat incident. He was assigned to Schofield Barracks.

Poche joined the Army in February 2005.

Dixie Pickett, a friend, said he was someone she had grown to love as her own son.

“He helped me when I needed someone to help me during the hardship in my life. Mostly when I felt so down and out, and when I was sick and needed help. He was like a loving son,” she wrote in an online tribute.

Poche is survived by his mother, Sandra, and his father, Kevin.