Ricardo Barraza's uncle remembered him as the curious, hardworking little boy who helped him in the asparagus fields.

"He wouldn't complain or nothin'," said Valentin Gonzalez. "If I'd drive a tractor, he'd tell me how to start it, drive it."

Barraza

Barraza played football and basketball and was on the track team in high school. He was awarded best defensive back as a sophomore, said his former football coach, Belton Banks.

"He was somebody who wanted to succeed and do well," he said. "He mainly wanted to make his mother proud of him."

He also loved fishing, but his mother joked those fishing trips were often just an excuse for grabbing a beer.

His grandfather would carve wooden guns for him when he was young. The lure of action would have led him to police work if he hadn't decided on the military.

"If someone would knock the Army down, he'd say, 'I'm in there,'" said his mother, Nina Barraza. "He respected that uniform."

He also is survived by his father, Francisco.

In high school, Brock A. Beery enjoyed playing Nintendo games. In the military, he became an expert on computers.

"He could tear a computer down and put it back together," said his father, Roger Beery. "He had special training in the armor division. He used a computer to hit his targets. He was 90 percent accurate in hitting his targets."

Beery, 30, of White House, Tenn., was killed March 23 by a roadside explosive and small-arms fire in Habaniyah. He was assigned to Bowling Green and was on his third deployment, after one to the Sinai and another to Bosnia.

"He was one of our brightest and best," said Maj. Gen. Donald C. Storm.

He is survived by his wife, Sara, and 7-year-old daughter, Elissa.

Beery, who graduated high school in 1994, loved off road four-wheeling adventures, collecting guns and hunting.

In the military, he worked as a petroleum supervisor, overseeing distribution of bulk fuel oils, and also as a mortar direction chief, said friend and colleague Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Pollard.

"He was a real intelligent guy, articulate, a shar soldier," Pollard said. "He was a good one."

On Sept. 10, 2001, Dale G. Brehm called his father to tell him he accomplished his goal of becoming a member of the elite Army Rangers.

Brehm

Brehm, 23, of Turlock, Calif., died March 18 in Ramadi from small-arms fire. He was a 2000 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Lewis.

Brehm was a jumpmaster, a soldier who has received special training for jumping out of airplanes and helicopters during combat.

"He said there was nothing better than being in a plane and watching the ground go by. He loved the rush," Bill Brehm said.

He also is survived by his wife, Raini; stepmother, Linda Brehm; and mother, Laura Williams.

Bill Brehm said his favorite memories of his son include watching him play with friends as a child and participating in Little League baseball.

"I enjoyed seeing him mature, growing u to become a good citizen," Bill Brehm said.

Carlson

Carlson eagerly volunteered.

"You can't get more aggressive than what he was doing," said Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver. "He really saw that what he was doing was making a difference."

Carlson, 25, of Bethlehem, Pa., died March 25 from a heart attack in Taqqadum. He was assigned to Bethlehem.

Carlson dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and eventually received a GED. He worked briefly as a cook before working as an electrician. He hoped to study law enforcement at Kutztown University and wanted to extend his tour of duty another year.

"I'm very proud of my son and the work that he did," said his father, Frederick A. Carlson III. "For him, I think that serving there gave more meaning to his life than simply being here."

He also is survived by his mother, Anne Marie; his partner, Christina Ruiz; and their son, Frederick A. Carlson V.

Dan

Sometimes he would have the class jog past the home of his grandfather, a Vietnam War veteran, shouting military cadences. Other times he had the students do belly crawls.

"He told me I was wicked good," said John Ayotte, a 16-year-old junior. "He said I could be a sniper. I liked him from then on out."

Dan, 22, of Norway, Maine, was killed March 13 when he came under attack by small-arms fire and explosives in Ramadi. He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Campbell. He wanted to return to Maine and become a state trooper.

He loved spending time with his family and always remembered everybody's birthday.

"There wasn't a bad bone in his body. This couldn't have happened to a better guy," said Tera Cole, a friend. "He was so full of everything, so full of life. He enjoyed life so much."

He never saw his only child, Austin, born to his girlfriend in December.

Amy A. Duerksen grew u an Army brat, the third generation of a military family. But she never really expressed an interest in joining the military herself, until she started looking into financial aid for college.

"She didn't know where she wanted to go or what she wanted to major in," said her father, Maj. Douglas W. Duerksen, an Army chaplain at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., where his daughter also listed as home.

Duerksen, 19, died March 11 in Baghdad from a non-combat gunshot injury she sustained on March 8. She was assigned to Fort Hood.

Her grandfather, Wayne Duerksen, a Navy veteran who served in World War II, said, "she was the sweetest, most wonderful little girl," adding that she was only 5-foot-1. "Nobody had a better granddaughter," he said.

The Rev. Shannon Soard said Duerksen, "had a kindness and gentleness for people that caused you to warm to her quickly. Warm smiles, encouraging words and affectionate hugs were the order of the day with Amy. She loved people, and they knew it."

She also is survived by her mother, Michelle, and an older sister, April, who is in the Army.

Fry

The Marine disarmed the bomb and saved the child's life.

"He laid down his life so other Marines would be safe, and he did it willingly," said his wife, Malia Fry. "Every EOD tech that is over there does the same thing a hundred times a day, and they don't think about themselves."

Fry, 28, of Lorena, Texas, was killed March 8 while defusing a bomb in Anbar province. He was assigned to Cam Lejeune.

Fry was known as a devoted father and a humble patriot. He was happy that he graduated high school as salutatorian because he didn't like speaking in public and didn't want to give the graduation speech.

In October he received a hand injury and the military wanted to give him a Bronze Star but he wouldn't accept it, said his mother, Beth Fry. "He said what he was doing was what he was supposed to be doing," she said.

He also is survived by three children: Kathryn, 9; Gideon, 7; and C.L., 2.

Carlos M. Gonzalez spent four years of high school in the ROTC preparing to get into the Army. After succeeding and becoming a communications specialist, he wasn't about to slow down.

"He was into his job," said his father, Carlos. "He worked seven days a week. He wanted to be there."

Gonzalez, 22, of Middletown, N.Y., died March 16 in Tikrit when a mortar round detonated. He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Campbell.

In a letter read during his funeral, battalion officers recalled Gonzalez's "hilarious laugh" and how well-groomed he was. They also mentioned his "bad driving skills," a line that for a moment made the members of the congregation laugh.

"He was a great member of our team," Spc. Brian Vance said, reading from a letter. "He was an unforgettable friend... We were robbed of our comrade too soon."

Gonzalez also is survived by his wife, Kristina, and his daughter, Isabella.

Gonzalez's dad said the family will continue to send his buddies care packages of cookies. "While our guys are still over there, I will support them," he said.

Colleagues of Joshua U. Humble looked forward to seeing him when they were struggling.

"He was a funny, funny guy, wise beyond his years," said Staff Sgt. Robert Preusser. "He was the first one to slap you on the back when you were feeling down or upset, the first to come up with a joke that would really crack you up."

Humble, 21, of Appleton, Maine, was killed by a roadside bomb Feb. 26 in Baghdad. He graduated high school in 2002 and was assigned to Fort Drum.

He loved to hunt, enjoyed the outdoors and loved Chinese food. Judy Ottmann, Humble's high school counselor, remembered him as a quiet student whom she described as a "gentle soul."

He also loved spending time with his family when he could, especially when he came home on leave. He always was willing to help anyone in need in a calming and generous way, his family said.

"We cannot adequately express our gratitude for his sacrifice and that of his family, but his courage will forever be remembered," U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, said in a written statement.

He is survived by his parents, Richard and Vivian Shannon.

As a boy, Kevin P. Jessen enjoyed tying his G.I. Joe toys to bottle rockets and firing them off. He liked chemistry -- the explosive kind.

"He liked to play with fire and explosives and just see what he could mix together to make a little bomb or whatever, his own little thing," said his sister, Tracy Miller. "And he ended up getting into that as a specialty, which was kind of ironic, but cool."

Jessen, 28, of Paragould, Ark., died March 5 in Rawah while trying to disarm a bomb. He graduated high school in 1996 and was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Jessen had been in Junior ROTC as well as the National Guard before joining the Army. He had traveled to the Mideast in the mid-1990s to help dispose of explosives left over from the first Gulf War.

He also had a strong interest in history. "He could name every war and when it took place and all that stuff," said Miller. "I guess it was just his calling."

His family had just sent him a package of his favorite snacks: pepperoni sticks, pistachios and almonds.

He is survived by his wife, Carrie, and a 2-year-old son, Cameron.

Even though he was dying, Bryan A. Lewis kept doing his job. Wounded by a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers had to pry the radio from his hands. He kept giving orders.

"He took his leadership role very seriously," said his widow, Fabersha Flynt Lewis.

Lewis

"He was very committed to the United States military," said his wife. "It was a job and he did his job. He died doing his job. I'm proud of him. I'm very proud of him and I will always love him."

His military career included stints in Kosovo, Bosnia, Germany, Korea and Cuba. He met his wife at an airport in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2004, as he was returning to Cuba after a break.

Lewis had been in Iraq for 119 days and he spoke with his wife every day -- enough to rack up a $644 telephone bill. She wrote her husband every day, dropping a letter in the mail as she went to work at the University of Georgia.

"We talked constantly -- two or three times per day," she remembered.