Marine Lance Cpl. Derrick Cothran

Penny Tracy's fondest memory of Derrick Cothran, her son's football teammate, was deep in the fourth quarter of a game with the rain pouring down. The other team needed to make an extra point to win the game.

"Derrick shot out across the line and block the point. He was so happy that he took off down the field to the 50-yard line, dove into the mud," she said. "From that day on, I always called him my Mud Angel No. 24."

Cothran, 21, of Avondale, La., was killed April 14 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

A 2003 high school graduate, Cothran played defensive back for the school's football team, was an outfielder on its baseball team and was a member of the wrestling team, said school coach J.T. Curtis.

He won a scholarship to play football at Union College in Kentucky, but after two years decided to join the Marines. Cothran hoped to go back to college eventually and seek a federal law enforcement job.

"It's tragic that a young man of his caliber would lose his life," Curtis said.

He also is survived by his wife, Victoria.

Army Spc. Shawn R. Creighton

In the midst of their mourning, Shawn R. Creighton's family got a call from a friend of their son.

Spc. Creighton

The woman said she was a waitress and that Creighton had heard she was having trouble paying her bills. He came in to eat at one of her tables, then left behind a $100 tip.

"The only word I could ever use to describe your son is 'awesome,'" she said.

Creighton, 21, of Windsor, N.C., was killed April 8 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Rawah. He was assigned to Fort Wainwright.

His family remembered his crazier exploits: launching water balloons filled with shaving cream from an upstairs window; playing paint ball wars in the woods behind the house; and once, accidentally, lighting himself on fire, causing second- and third-degree burns.

"He was extremely danger-prone," said his mother, Donna Ward. "He was danger-prone because he never slowed down."

Shortly after graduating from high school in 2003, he went to basic training. He called his great-grandmother from Alaska to ask how to make snow creams for his fellow soldiers.

He also is survived by his stepfather, Cola Ward.

Army Master Sgt. Clinton Cubert

Clinton Cubert was known as "Corn bread" among his friends. He was always ready to organize a fishing or hunting expedition. One of his passions was an annual fishing trip on the Kentucky River with a few close friends.

Sgt. Cubert

"Clinton loved his family, he loved his friends, and he loved this country that he lived in," said Brother Vernon Huber, pastor of the Anderson Christian Church. "All of us here could learn a lot from the life of Clinton."

Cubert, 38, of Lawrenceburg, Ky., died April 16 of injuries from a roadside bomb that detonated in Samarra on Sept. 11, 2005. He was assigned to Paducah.

Shrapnel struck Cubert's side and neck, piercing his lung and causing severe brain injuries. Though he was not expected to survive, Cubert clung to life as he passed through a progression of military hospitals in Balad, Iraq; Landstuhl, Germany; and Bethesda, Md.

He endured painful rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington and the Veterans Medical Center in Tampa, Fla., before finally coming home to Kentucky.

Cubert is survived by his wife, Amy, and daughters Sarah and Alisha.

Army Cpl. Jason B. Daniel

Algebra teacher Aretha Hall said that Jason B. Daniel was always willing to help others in her class.

Cpl. Daniel

"He would always encourage others to just keep trying and it would eventually get easier," Hall said. "I would always smile because I knew that one day, he would be an asset to the world with his helping spirit."

Daniel, 21, of Fort Worth, Texas, was killed April 23 by a roadside bomb in Taji. He graduated high school in 2004, was a combat medic and was assigned to Fort Hood.

In the fifth grade, Daniel was diagnosed with dyslexia. One morning, so intent to improve, he walked seven miles from the family's apartment to a summer school program implemented to help dyslexic students.

"He was real shy and didn't talk much. The program helped him so much to communicate with people," said his mother, Linda Daniel. "After that, he chattered all the time."

Daniel enjoyed Lego contests, the Texas Rangers baseball team and collected Star Wars items and nutcrackers since the age of 3. He would get up at 6 a.m. every Sunday morning to go get doughnuts.

He also is survived by his wife, Monika.

Army Pfc. Joseph J. Duenas

Last year, Joseph J. Duenas hung out with a class of first graders before heading to war. The kids adopted him, and letters and care packages to the soldier soon followed.

"If he would have had 10 hands, they all would have been taken. They really took to him," said Franklin Elementary school teacher Lisa Kuzlik.

Duenas, 23, of Mesa, Ariz., was killed March 30 after falling from a helicopter in Kirkuk province. He was assigned to Fort Campbell.

Duenas joined the Army in November 2004. He was a member of the Task Force Band of Brothers, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

Duenas' survivors include his wife, Shawna.

"He was married Oct. 25, 2004, three days before he went into boot camp," said Rose Garrett, his mother. "He came out for Christmas and they renewed their vows.

She said she can't imagine how this will affect her other son, Michael, who is autistic.

"We would always ask Michael where Joey is and he would always say 'Joey's in the Army,'" she said. "He doesn't know what dead means. How are we going to teach him? We'll have to teach him a new sentence. That's hard for a parent."

Army Sgt. Israel Devora Garcia

So good was Israel Devora Garcia at school work that district officials wanted him to skip a grade and take it easy. He would have none of it.

Sgt. Garcia

"They said, 'You can come only a half day because you have all your credits,'" said his mother, Frances Sandoval. "He said, 'No, I want to go all day.'"

Devora Garcia, 23, of Clint, Texas, was killed April 1 in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near his patrol. He was on his second tour and was assigned to Baumholder, Germany.

He graduated high school in 2001 as an honor student. A native of Mexico, the military gave him an avenue to citizenship, which he earned shortly before he was killed.

After his Army service, he had planned to go to school and study law enforcement so he could join the FBI or the Border Patrol, said his sister Rosa. He told her they would attend Texas A&M together.

He also is survived by his father, Lorenzo Sandoval.

His mother said he never got in trouble. "He was 19 or 20 and he was still letting us know where he was," she said. "When he went out, I'd tell him he would have to be back at midnight."

Sandoval said they would laugh and her son would tell her he wasn't a child anymore, "but then he'd be back at 12:30 a.m."

Marine Pfc. Chase A. Edwards

Before enlisting, Chase A. Edwards studied the Marine Corps for two years, learning about its culture, regulations and traditions.

When he finally walked into a recruiting office, he knew so much that the recruiter joked Edwards was on the wrong side of the desk.

"He didn't party, and he didn't have any time for nonsense," said his mother, Melody Hartwell. "He had his goals and his plans, and he stuck to them."

Edwards, 19, of Lake Charles, La., was killed April 6 in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

He graduated high school last spring and joined the Marines, already such an expert by then that he was able to help his buddies through the difficulties of boot camp.

"His whole life, truly, from the day he was born, he was probably destined to be a Marine," his mother said. "He was always organized, on time, on schedule and he had a routine for everything."

Characteristically, Edwards had his future mapped out. After the Marines, he planned to study criminal justice and then go into law enforcement.

He also is survived by his stepfather, Dennis Hartwell; father, Andrew Edwards; and stepmother, Lisa Edwards.

Army Pfc. Jeremy W. Ehle

Jeremy W. Ehle's high school is taking his loss hard. "We were all kind of hoping he would jump out of nowhere and say 'April Fool,'" said Caitlan Tarr, a sophomore.

Pfc. Ehle

"He was real easy to talk to," she said. "Whenever I felt down he would always tell me, 'Never regret anything that you do and always try to see the better in things and people.'"

Ehle, 19, of Richmond, Va., was killed April 2 in Hit from wounds suffered when his vehicle came under small-arms fire. He graduated high school last year and was assigned to Friedberg, Germany.

Ehle was described as artistic. He wrote poems in a journal and he loved rock music, video games and shoes of all types. Ehle had just started online psychology and other classes.

After his mother died, Ehle bounced between group homes in Massachusetts and Virginia during some of his teen years.

"He was an awesome kid; I mean an awesome man," said Regina Tarr, whose own family became his surrogate family. "He always tried to find happiness in everything. I don't think he ever met anybody whose life he didn't touch in a positive way."

He also is survived by his fiancee, Kathryn Holmes.

Army Sgt. Robert W. Ehney

Robert W. Ehney's mother saw right through his tough bluster.

Sgt. Ehney

"He wanted to be all macho on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside," said Mary Beth Ehney. "He was just a kind person."

Ehney, 26, of Lexington, Ky., was killed April 23 by a roadside bomb in Taji. He was assigned to Fort Hood and was on his second tour.

He took up target shooting as a boy and also enjoyed riding motorcycles, using computers and playing with his 4-year-old son, William.

After earning his GED, Ehney joined the Army at 23. Several soldiers in basic training -- most of them 18 or 19 -- affectionately gave him the nickname "Pops," recalled his father, Harry Ehney.

"I am very proud of the man he became," Mary Beth Ehney said. "He was proud of being a good soldier, he was a good father, he was a good son, a good brother."

Ehney had proposed to his fiancee, Amanda Applegate, in October and planned to be married after he finished his deployment.

"He was proud to be a soldier and proud to serve his country," his father said. "But he was very concerned about the younger kids in the unit" and how they would handle combat.

Marine Lance Cpl. Michael L. Ford

En route to Iraq, Michael L. Ford called his father first from Maine and then from Ireland. Sometime after arriving in Iraq, his family received a card that just said, "HI," in capital letters.

Lance Cpl. Ford

His father, Joseph M. Ford Sr., marveled at his son's ability to laugh in difficult situations. "I said this kid is alive and he has his sense of humor. The kid is remarkable," he said.

Ford, 19, of New Bedford, Mass., was killed April 26 when his tank hit a roadside bomb in Anbar province. He graduated high school in 2004 and was assigned to Twentynine Palms.

Ford enlisted in the Marines in 2004 the day after watching a television broadcast of President Bush defend U.S. military operations there, according to his father.

"When he came home from school the next day, he had the recruiter behind him and said, 'Sign the papers, Dad,'" the elder Ford recalled.

Ford developed a deep sense of community service through his mother, who died in 2002 of heart failure. She had been involved in many outreach and teaching programs.

"He took his mother's death hard," said Bret Livingston, a youth minister. "He had a big heart. He wanted to do what was right."

Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick J. Gallagher

Patrick J. Gallagher joined the Marines two years ago, a decision partly driven by a cousin who died while working in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Cpl. Gallagher

While he seemed always eager to enlist, after the death, "he became really gung-ho about it," said Daniel Martin, a close friend.

Gallagher, 27, who grew up in Fairhaven, Mass., died April 2 near Asad when his truck rolled over in a flash flood. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton.

He followed the footsteps of his brother, Michael Gallagher, who moved to Florida and joined the Navy. "When his brother signed up and moved to Florida, he went with him," Martin said.

Gallagher was living in Jacksonville, Fla., with his wife, Elizabeth, and their son, Evan. He earned his diploma by taking night classes.

His time in the military had changed Gallagher. "He seemed so different the last time he was here," said Erin Burton, another friend. "He had become a man."

At a memorial, candles were lit near a banner tied to the Interstate 195 overpass in Fairhaven. "How would you feel if your hero just died?" asked Leonard Melancon, a close friend.

Army Spc. James W. Gardner

Church youth leader Steve Tyree remembers a skit his group was performing that featured James W. Gardner saying his lines in a British accent.

Spc. Gardner

"We didn't know if it was British, Scottish or what, but it was hilarious," Tyree said.

Gardner, 22, of Glasgow, Ky., was killed April 10 in Tal Afar from a non-combat related cause. He graduated high school in 2002 and was assigned to Fort Campbell.

Gardner was known as a hard worker, who saved money to buy his own riding mower so he could earn more money by mowing for others. He also held down jobs at the local movie theater, a floral shop and delivering newspapers.

"He could be hilarious and he was creative," said Tyree. Once, Gardner brought several cans of spray paint to decorate the walls of a youth clubhouse. "I had to make him stop when I saw his nostrils were covered with paint," Tyree said.

Anne Patterson, a former math teacher, said Gardner "would come by daily to do extra work to develop the math skills he needed for the military."

He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and stepdaughters Taylor and Brooklyn Roberts.

Marine Lance Cpl. Marcus S. Glimpse

Marcus S. Glimpse's twin brother, Mike, put together a final care package for his brother that included bottles of booze and Mike's Army dog tags.

"I told him I was sending him my dog tags because they had kept me safe over there," said Mike Glimpse, an Army paratrooper who returned in February from a 10-month tour in Iraq. "I told him not to lose them because I wanted them back."

Marcus Glimpse, 22, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was killed April 12 by an explosive in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton and was on his second tour.

Tall and skinny, Glimpse loved anything that had to do with the Mafia. He would spend hours playing video games. He loved to talk and he loved to argue.

"But you couldn't stay mad at him," said sister Mandy Glimpse, 15. "No matter how hard you tried."

When he was deployed to Iraq in January, Glimpse hauled an armful of toys along for the ride. He also brought his laptop, a thick stack of DVDs, and his PlayStation.

On an earlier deployment, Marcus had helped with tsunami relief in Sri Lanka in early 2005.

He also is survived by his father, Guy, and mother, Maryan.

Marine Cpl. Brandon M. Hardy

It was at church where Brandon M. Hardy met his fiancee, Samantha DiGrazio.

"We were younger and I had a big crush on him, but I didn't talk to him," DiGrazio said. "I got his address when he went to the Air Force and started writing him. We became pen pals for six or seven years."

Then one day, Hardy surprised her, arriving on her doorstep with flowers. DiGrazio was so shocked, she slammed the door in his face.

"My mom actually had to come out and get him," she said. "That was the joke for a while -- he finally brought me flowers and I slammed the door in his face!"

Hardy, 25, of Cochranville, Pa., was killed April 28 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province. He was a 1999 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Pendleton.

After five years in the Air Force, he decided to enlist in the Marines so that "he could be doing what he wanted to be doing in Iraq," said his mother, Jill Hardy.

"He started over at the bottom and gave up his seniority and took a cut in pay," she said. "But he took it more seriously then anyone I've ever known."

He also is survived by his father, Warren.