At 32, Emmanuel L. Legaspi was much older than the typical recruit. But for the native of the Philippines, military service was a chance to show how much he appreciated a chance at life in America.

"He was in America. He didn't want anyone to question his patriotism," said his wife, Shona Legaspi.

Legaspi, 38, of Las Vegas, was killed May 7 in Tal Afar from small-arms fire. He was assigned to Friedberg, Germany.

Legaspi worked as a lifeguard and slot technician before enlisting in the Army. He spent time at Fort Polk and eventually landed in Germany. He survived one tour in Iraq and returned home.

He and his wife married in 2000 in a middle-of-the-night civil ceremony. He also is survived by his 6-month-old daughter, Carmen. "She looks just like her daddy," his wife said.

Legaspi enjoyed athletics and physical activity. He was a champion boxer in his home country and boxed for the Philippines in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

"He was such a unique and special individual, and I'm really glad I got to spend that time with him," Shona Legaspi said.

Three weeks ago, Brian S. Letendre volunteered to go back to Iraq, accepting perhaps one of the most dangerous assignments: training the Iraqi Army.

"Brian just didn't feel right being back here in the U.S. while other Marines were serving overseas," his family and friends wrote in a statement. "Despite others telling him to stay back and be safe, Brian could not resist his call to duty."

Letendre, 27, of Woodbridge, Va., was killed May 3 when a suicide car bomber attacked his observation post in Anbar province. He was assigned to Plainville.

Letendre was captain of his high school soccer team and graduated from Milligan College in Tennessee in 2000 with a degree in computer science. He joined the Marines later that year.

He was deployed to Japan, Cuba and then to Kuwait at the start of the war. After returning from Iraq, part of his job was to inform soldier families of deaths and help with burial arrangements.

"Several times throughout his life, Brian could have chosen the easier or more comfortable path, but he didn't," his family said.

He is survived by his wife, Autumn, and 3-year-old son, Dillon.

Michael L. Licalzi always put it on the line. During boxing matches against more experienced competitors, Licalzi once somehow reached the semifinals in his weight class.

"Everywhere he went and in everything he did, Michael gave 100 percent," said his father, Gregory LiCalzi.

Licalzi, 24, of Garden City, N.Y., died May 11 when his tank plunged off a bridge in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

"He was responsible for his platoon, four tanks, and he was in one. They went off the bridge and into a canal," said his father. "It's kind of a horrible way to go. Michael's an excellent swimmer."

Licalzi was a voracious reader, loved to surf, play poker, try new beers, handicap thoroughbreds and root for the New York Mets. He also was an avid outdoorsman and, when he visited his parents in Florida, loved eating at Bahama Breeze.

He was a 2004 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and then attended the Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, where he was first in his class.

"He was a wonderful man," said Kathy Logan, a neighbor. "What can you say? He was our hero."

He also is survived by his mother, Carol.

Robbie G. Light's wife was pregnant with their second child. He was due to be home on leave in time to watch the birth. Then the family got a visit from several men in uniforms.

"We're just trying to keep memories of him, and trying to make sure to write them down so we don't forget to tell her over time and she'll know him," Elizabeth said of teaching their daughter, Ashlyn, about her father.

Light, 21, of Kingsport, Tenn., was killed May 1 when a bomb detonated near his tank in Baghdad. He graduated high school in 2002 and was assigned to Fort Hood.

Some of Robbie's former teachers remember him as a "responsible and caring young man" who "had a super personality and a really good sense of humor," said his old school's current principal, Greg Harvey.

Light's interests included basketball and University of Tennessee football. Elizabeth Light said her husband was motivated to join the Army right out of high school to "prove to himself and family and friends he could make a living for himself."

He enlisted in the spring of 2003 and was on his second tour in Iraq. He deployed the second time less than two months after marrying.

Army Spc. Jeremy M. Loveless

Jeremy M. Loveless enlisted to get training as a medic and eventually work as a firefighter and paramedic. It was a career plan he hoped would best be able to provide for his family.

"This was his steppingstone to get to where he wanted," said his wife, Melissa. "He did not give his life for his country; he gave his life for his family."

Loveless, 25, of Estacada, Ore., died May 29 in Mosul when his vehicle came under attack. A 1998 high school graduate, he was assigned to Fort Wainwright.

Loveless was an enthusiastic rope climber and worked for two years as a window washer on high-rise buildings. He was a volunteer firefighting who loved playing the video game Halo and practicing target shooting.

While in Iraq, Loveless trained medics in the Iraqi army and wrote that he most often treated injured Iraqis, not Americans.

Loveless met his wife at a church group for young adults and got married on July 1, 2000, wearing a white tuxedo and bare feet. The couple went barefoot to symbolize the fact that the first time they touched, it was with their feet.

He also is survived by a 4-year-old daughter, Chloe.

Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin A. Lucas

A wiry kid with a wide smile, Kevin A. Lucas had a black belt in tae kwon do and could take you down quicker than a blink. He had wanted to be a Marine since he played with toy guns.

"He loved it," said his father, Kevin. "He thought he was doing what he needed to do and thought he was doing a job that needed to be done."

Lucas, 20, of Greensboro, N.C., was killed May 26 when his patrol came under enemy fire in Anbar province. He was a 2004 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

His parents supported his passion for service. When they moved to Greensboro from Mississippi in 2002, they bought a home near a high school so Adam could participate in the only Navy Junior ROTC program in the area.

"He was always willing to pitch in and help," said Erwin McClendon, his commander in high school. "He looked forward to going into the Marines."

From the war zone of Iraq, Lucas gained some perspective. "Americans need to keep remembering Sept. 11 and quit bickering over the little things," his father remembered him saying.

He also is survived by his mother, Sandra.

Army Pfc. Caleb A. Lufkin

When other firefighters at the Knoxville Fire Department would rush grimly to the station to respond to an emergency, Caleb A. Lufkin would show up smiling.

"When we had a call, he'd come running in that smile he's got," said Tim Riggs, the volunteer training coordinator for the department. "He was willing to do the job Ñ more than willing."

Lufkin, 24, of Knoxville, Ill., died May 25 at Walter Reed Medical Center of injuries received May 4 when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He graduated high school in 2000 and was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood.

He began volunteering in Knoxville in 2003 after he had already served for two years with the East Galesburg Fire Department. Before leaving for Iraq, Lufkin was finishing up certification training to become a full-time professional firefighter.

He is survived by his parents and stepparents: Tammy and Karen Lufkin, and Dennis and Marcy Gorsline.

At a memorial, Chad Clevenger, the soldier's best friend, mentioned Lufkin's well-known banjo playing. "You could play like there's no tomorrow," he joked. "But do me a favor and leave the singing to someone else."

Shane R. Mahaffee was recently at an Italian restaurant when he noticed bottled water, clothes and other items being collected in the parking lot for Hurricane Katrina victims.

When informed about what was happening, Mahaffee chipped in more than $200 for the hurricane victims and bought soft drinks and beer for volunteers loading the items onto a truck.

Mahaffee was "always there and ready to help anybody," said restaurant owner Tony Maniscalco.

Mahaffee, 36, of Gurnee, Ill., died May 15 in a German hospital from injuries received May 5 in a roadside bomb in Hillah. He was assigned to Knoxville.

Mahaffee enlisted in ROTC while he was a student at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., graduating in 1991. He got his law degree from Widener University in Pennsylvania in 1994.

"Shane was a man of even temperament who was always well prepared and dedicated to the service of his clients," Chief Judge Christopher Starck said. "His going back into the military exemplified how he lived his entire life -- he did it because he believed it was the right thing to do."

He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two children, Adelia Rose, 5, and Ethan, 2.

Jose Santos Marin-Dominguez Jr. was a jokester who enjoyed cars and wanted to become an auto mechanic.

"He was very cheerful, very happy," said Vanessa Dominguez, his cousin. "Just really cool, he was awesome."

She said he generated laughs with his impersonation of Stitch from the Disney flick "Lilo and Stitch" and that, little by little, he was whipping his Honda Civic into shape.

Marin-Dominguez, 22, of Liberal, Kan., was killed May 14 in combat in Anbar province. He was a 2003 high school graduate and was assigned to Kaneohe Bay.

He was deeply moved by the 2001 terrorist attacks. Though born in Mexico, Marin-Dominguez, a naturalized U.S citizen, felt passionately about America.

"He felt strongly about what happened to the Twin Towers," said Jorge Gutierrez, his pastor. "He felt his own home was being attacked."

He is survived by his parents, Jose and Oliva.

Alex Casas, a friend, said many friends of Marin-Dominguez already were decorating their cars with the logo of the car club he planned to start, called Paradise.

"Everybody was tagging their cars and everything," Casas said.

Army Sgt. Benjamin E. Mejia

Sgt. Majia

The day he left for Iraq, Benjamin E. Mejia left a message on the dry erase board in his family's home.

"Be good to each other," he wrote. "Know everything will be OK, and I'll be back."

His mother, Kathy Khan, will never erase that message. It's the last one her son left.

Mejia, 25, of Salem, Mass., died May 31 after collapsing while working out in Marez. He was assigned to Fort Wainwright.

Mejia split his youth between Salem, living with his mother, and Tampa, Fla., where his father, Benjamin Sr., lived after his parents divorced. He received his GED in 1999.

Mejia had always been there when his family needed him. He once saved his mother's life with the Heimlich maneuver and twice rescued his sister from drowning in a swimming pool.

"This is the kind of kid you want in an emergency," his mother said.

Mejia developed a love of fine clothes and expensive shoes and swore that as soon as he could buy them for himself, he would shed the discount-wear of his youth. And he did.

"Are their hands clean?" Mejia would jokingly ask his sister Jessica, when any of her eight children headed toward him to play. "His clothes were always spotless," she said.

The Rev. Dennis Scott helped raise Robert L. Moscillo, and the young man returned the favor by hoping to follow in his footsteps.

"He came to the point where he decided he needed to settle down and establish some priorities," Scott said. "He felt the Lord had been talking to him about becoming a pastor."

Moscillo, 21, of Salem, N.H., died May 1 when his Humvee hit a land mine in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton.

A 2003 high school graduate, Moscillo was a sports fanatic, a member of his high school wrestling team and kept a decent grade-point average.

"He was the kind of boy who tried hard all the time," said teacher Maureen Ouellette. "He had ambition to get out of Salem and be something more than just a high school graduate."

Moscillo lived with Scott during his high school years, at the request of his mother, a single parent struggling to handle her rebellious son.

Scott last saw Moscillo days before he went to Iraq. "We talked about the possibility of his not coming back," Scott said. "And Bob said, 'I want to come back, but if I go to heaven, I'm ready.'"

He also is survived by his parents, Frank and Donna.

Cory L. Palmer was not the best player on his high school soccer team. But he competed hard and listened to instruction. Head coach Tim Lee was able to observe the young man's increasing maturity firsthand.

"He was the type of player that did what you told him to do," Lee said. "He was a proud member of the team, and I'm proud to say that I knew him."

Palmer, 21, of Seaford, Del., died May 6 at Brooke Army Medical Center from wounds received in Anbar province on May 1 when the Humvee he was in was hit. He was assigned to Camp Lejeune.

He graduated from high school in 2002 and spent a semester at the University of West Virginia studying computer engineering before joining the Marines in February 2003. He was on his second tour

He is survived by his parents, Charles and Danna Palmer.

Palmer mentored friends and handmade gifts for his family. But no matter how much he accomplished, he never wanted anyone to make a fuss over him.

"He was very humble and that's one reason I want everyone to know what a wonderful, strong, courageous man he was," said his aunt Alison Venebles.

Elisha R. Parker had committed to join the Marines in a delayed entry program long before Sept. 11, 2001. After that day, he never wavered, said the Rev. Brian Lynch of Abundant Life Community Church.

"He seemed to know what he wanted," he said.

Parker, 21, of Taberg, N.Y., was killed May 4 by a bomb blast in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton and was on his third tour.

While in high school, Parker played soccer, ran track and competed on the Nordic ski team. During his senior year, he was his school's first recipient of the Cpl. Pat Tillman Award, which is given to a graduating senior who enlisted in the military for full-time active duty.

"He took all our most rigorous courses and graduated 15th in a very competitive class," Camden Central School District Superintendent Rocco Longo said. "He was an outstanding young man with a great personality who was actively involved in our high school activities."

He is survived by his parents, Renny and Donna.

"He was a kid who was so gifted, he could have done anything," said Steve Campbell, Parker's high school track coach.

Marine Lance Cpl. Robert G. Posivio III

Lance Cpl. Posivio

News of Robert G. Posivio III's death was a particularly hard blow to his family. His younger brother, Daniel, 19, was killed in a car accident in July 2004 while on leave from the Navy.

"Robert's family is dealing with more than they ever should have to," said Randy Grupe, superintendent of the school system that Posivio attended before graduating in 2002.

Posivio, 22, of Sherburn, Minn., was killed May 23 by a roadside bomb in Anbar province. He was assigned to Camp Pendleton and was on his third tour of duty in Iraq.

In high school, he was active in football, wrestling, track, band and choir, and Future Farmers of America. In his spare time, he loved hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, driving his new Chevy truck and playing with his springer spaniel dog, "Spot."

Posivio served aboard the USS Duluth and the USS Ogden. He had returned to duty less than a month ago after recovering from a severe concussion and shrapnel wounds in both arms. That attack killed two fellow Marines.

He is survived by his parents, Robert and Patti.

"It's been said that the Marines want the best," said Grupe. "They got one of the best in Robert."

Relatives of Joseph E. Proctor said he cared more for others than himself. He mowed the lawn of a man who had a heart attack. He would stay up late to tutor friends who were failing math and English.

"He was the type of person who, if you needed help and he had only $1, he'd give you that $1," said Proctor's sister-in-law, April Proctor.

Proctor, 38, of Indianapolis, was killed May 3 by a suicide bombing near his observation post in Tammin. A 1987 high school graduate, he was assigned to Shelbyville and was on his second tour.

Proctor was a welder for a heating and air conditioning company. He had served with the Indiana Guard and the Army, including duty during Desert Storm, then returned to civilian life. About 10 years later, he returned to the military.

He was a line dancer, cook and daredevil who dismissed pleas not to go to Iraq, saying other soldiers needed time to visit their families.

"He knows there are people over there who could not see their families. If he re-enlisted and went over there, they could come home," said April Proctor.

He is survived by his wife, Beth, and three children: Joe, 20, Cassandra, 17, and Adam, 11.

During one of his final phone calls home, Bryan L. Quinton caught his parents during a church dinner. After they chatted, pastor Steve Farmer told Quinton, "Your church family wants to give you a message."

Farmer held up the cell phone, and the congregation shouted in unison, "We all love you! Hurry home!"

Quinton, 24, of Sapulpa, Okla., was killed May 4 by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. He was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood.

"You could always trust him to have fun, no matter what was going on," said Dana Hudgins, a longtime friend.

In letters read during his funeral service, fellow soldiers recalled how Quinton tried to take on men twice his size in wrestling matches, warning after defeats, "Got me this time. Watch out for me next time."

Quinton's older brother, Brent, described him in his youth as a sweet-tempered mischief-maker who never stopped smiling. "Bryan, you became better than me, you became tougher than me," Brent Quinton said. "You will always be the brother I look up to."

He is survived by his wife, Cyndi, and a daughter, Piper, 3.