Army Sgt. Dale T. Lloyd

Died July 19, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Watsontown, Pa.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; killed July 19 when multiple mortar rounds hit his forward operating base in Iskandariyah, Iraq.

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Dale T. Lloyd was a Civil War buff eager to be part of a modern-day conflict. He joined the Army in July 2000 after graduating from high school in Watsontown, Pa., and had planned to attend college in the fall. Lloyd wanted to be a teacher. "He had everything figured out," said Amy Bell Beaver, his mother. Lloyd, 22, died July 19 in a mortar attack in Iskandariyah, Iraq. His father, Richard Lloyd, had e-mailed his son just hours before. The younger man was proud and excited that he was soon to become a squad leader and would be responsible for more men. He had been home for two weeks in late June and early July. "He didn't sleep much during that time," his mother said. "It's almost like he was trying to live the last part of his life." The day before he left for Iraq, Richard Lloyd drove his son to Fort Drum, N.Y., where the younger man was stationed. Dale told him he had an awful toothache but didn't want to miss the deployment. "Dad, I can put up with the pain," he told his father.

— Associated Press