Army Pfc. Jason Meyer, 23, Howell, Mich.

Pfc. Meyer

The last letter from Pfc. Jason Meyer to his mother-in-law joked that his trip to Iraq was like "being on a beach with no water."

The 23-year-old soldier had just celebrated his first year of marriage, and he and his wife, Melissa, had been planning to start a family when he was killed April 7 as his personnel carrier was fired on, said Connie Arnould, his mother-in-law.

"He was a great kid," said Arnould's brother, Steven Cousino. He described Meyer as an "always happy-go-lucky, smiley kind of guy."

Meyer graduated from high school in Howell, Mich., in 1999 and joined the Army in 2001. He worked in construction and built decks for family members, and he loved the outdoors and family motorcycle trips, Arnould said.

His mother, Kathy Worthington, said her son's letters were always upbeat. The last time she heard from him was a phone call from Kuwait City on Valentine's Day. He was with the 11th Engineering Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga.

Worthington said the worry and fear for him came mostly from her, and he sought to reassure her.

"He was just, 'Go for it and get it over with,"' she said. "He was always upbeat and happy. He was always a great kid."

Army Spc. George A. Mitchell, 35, Rawlings, Md.

Spc. Mitchell

Half an hour before an Iraqi rocket killed him on April 7, Spc. George Mitchell was on the phone with his wife in West Virginia, laying out plans to become a police officer.

"He jokingly asked me if I could put up with him in the police force, and I joked back that I'd put up with him in the Army," said Brenda Sue Mitchell, 43.

Mitchell, 35, served six years in the Army after high school, then went into the reserves. But he missed the military lifestyle, his wife said.

"He really loved the Army life, the camaraderie," she said, so he decided to re-enlist in 2001, shortly after their second child was born. The family was in Rawlings at the time, and now lives in Antioch, W.Va.

He also wanted to return to Iraq, she said. "He said they should have taken care of the problem 12 years ago and that they were all itching to do it back then."

In letters home from his deployment with the Fort Stewart, Ga.-based 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade, Mitchell wrote to his wife about the chance he might not return.

"If my fate is not to come back. I want you go on with your life," he wrote. "I am now in my mode of focusing on what is to be my fate as a soldier. I am more ready than ever knowing that you are there and the children, they are what is going to pull me through."

Army Cpl. Henry L. Brown, 22, Natchez, Miss.

Cpl. Brown

Those who knew him say Cpl. Henry L. Brown was a family man, a man of faith.

Brown died in Iraq early April 8, said his mother, Rhonda James-Brown. She said military officials did not immediately disclose the circumstances of her son's death.

Brown was part of the Army's 2nd Brigade Command Group.

"Next to my mother, he was my best friend," said James-Brown, whose own mother died six months ago. "Now he's in heaven with her and they're both watching over me."

Brown graduated from Natchez High School, where he was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He taught Sunday school at Greater New Bethel Missionary Church.

Brown was married less than a year ago to Army Spc. JoDona Brown, who is also stationed in the Middle East. She is now making her way back home, his mother said.

Frank Woods Jr. described Brown, one of his best friends, as a person of deep faith: "He was a family-oriented person, a person of religious background, someone you could always depend on. If he had it, it was yours."

Marine Pfc. Juan Garza, 20, of Temperance, Mich.

Pfc. Juan Garza was going to make the military his career.

Pfc. Garza

"He was kid that school came very hard for, but he really wanted to be a Marine," said his aunt, Jodi Bucher. "He studied and studied and studied."

Garza, who was killed April 8 in an attack at the Baghdad airport, was a little scared to go to Iraq "but knew it was part of his job," Bucher said.

He attended elementary and middle school in San Benito, Texas, and moved to Temperance about five years ago to live with his aunt. He graduated from high school there last spring and went to boot camp in July. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Garza had planned to marry girlfriend Casey Cole in 2005, Bucher said, but the couple surprised everyone and tied the know the day after Christmas. Cole is in the Army, stationed in Washington, D.C.

Garza was the first from the Garza side of his family to graduate from high school and was proud of that, his aunt said.

The things that Bucher says she'll miss most about her nephew are his spunk and "zest for life."

Army Pvt. Kelley S. Prewitt, 24, of Centerpoint, Ala.

Army Pvt. Kelley Prewitt is kissed by his mother, Jean Prewitt, on Jan. 7, 2003, the day he left for Kuwait from Fort Benning.

In his last letter home, Army Pvt. Kelley Prewitt told his dad he wished he was back in Alabama, and that it wouldn't be long before he'd be calling for a ride home.

"He said he'd be calling me soon from the airport to please pick him up and please bring him his car," Steve Prewitt said Thursday.

Pvt. Prewitt was killed in action in Iraq on April 6, two years after he enlisted and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga. He was deployed in January.

Prewitt said his son liked to ride his personal watercraft on Lake Logan Martin, where they owned a mobile home. "He loved the lake and he loved the outdoors," he said.

The Pentagon told Prewitt his son died when his convoy was ambushed.

"I just know that Kelley would really hope -- and I do, too -- that in the future, history will tell us that his death and the death of all these other soldiers is not in vain," Prewitt said.

"The Iraqi people ... will understand that our way of life and law and order and freedom is the way to live on this earth."

Army Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever, 36, of Pendleton, Ore.

Robert A. Stever was protective of his family and took time for those he cared about.

Staff Sgt. Stever

"He was always smiling," said his grandfather Ray Stever. "He was friendly and willing to help his fellow man."

Stever, 36, from Pendleton, Ore., and based at Fort Stewart, was killed in combat April 8.

Stever, known to his family and friends as Tony, had a 10-year-old daughter and had been a volunteer firefighter with the Pendleton, Ore., Fire Department, following in the footsteps of his father. He left Pendleton in 1993 but still considered it his home, his wife said.

In his 13 years in the Army, his wife, Cyndi Stever, said, he completed two tours in Bosnia and one in Macedonia, but the war in Iraq was his first time in combat.

About a week before he died, called and left a message on his grandparents' answering machine. "He said everything was OK and he loved us," said his grandmother, Betty Stever.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather, 29, of Clio, Mich.

Staff Sgt. Sather

Colleagues remember a Pope Air Force Base sergeant killed in combat in Iraq on April 8 as a "quiet professional" who looked forward to building a home and enjoyed riding and repairing his motorcycle.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather was assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, a special forces unit. He was married and his family was notified of his death Tuesday. The details of Sather's death haven't been released.

He was a combat controller, an air traffic controllers trained to set up makeshift runways almost anywhere in the world. They are also skilled in radio communications.

"The 'quiet professional' is a good example of him," Staff Sgt. Michael Bain told The Fayetteville Observer. "He likes to do his job and does it very well. He puts his best foot forward, always prepares for the worst.

"He'd basically go out, take care of matters. Even if he wasn't asked to do it, he would just go out and do it anyway, just to make sure things got done," Bain said.

Sather spoke often of preparing to build his home and enjoyed repairing his motorcycle, Bain said.

"He had a beautiful motorcycle," Bain said. "He had a great Harley-Davidson, loved to ride his bike, loved to work on his bike and looked forward to building his new home."

Army Sgt. 1st Class John Marshall, Sacramento, Calif.

Odessa Marshall with photo of son John

In his last dispatch before the war, 50-year-old John W. Marshall referred to himself as an old soldier with a clear purpose and little luxury to debate the reason for his mission.

"It's really not an issue with me. I am not a politician or a policy maker, just an old soldier," he wrote home in an e-mail. "Any doubts on my part could get someone killed."

Marshall, based at Fort Stewart, was killed April 8 by an Iraqi rocket-propelled grenade. He is the oldest U.S. military casualty of the conflict in Iraq.

Marshall grew up in Los Angeles, enlisted when he was 18, and served stints in Korea and Germany. He and his wife, Denise, had six children, ages 9 to 17.

His mother, Odessa Mitchell, saw him in October before he headed to Kuwait, and never feared he wouldn't come home.

"That was something my son wanted to do. He loved the Army," she said.

Army Pfc. Tamario Burkett, 21, Buffalo, N.Y.

Pfc. Burkett

The oldest of seven children, Tamario D. Burkett was a poet, an artist and a big brother who asked his mother whether God would forgive him if he had to kill someone in combat.

His letters home included special notes for each of his six younger siblings, ages 1 to 18. He wrote that Katrina, 15, should stay away from boys and 18-year-old Raymond should focus on school.

Burkett, 21, of Buffalo, N.Y., and based at Camp Lejeune, was killed in combat March 23.

His parents say Burkett surprised them with his decision to join the Marines after talking to a recruiter at school one day.

As he prepared for combat, Burkett didn't worry about his own safety, his mother said.

"He said, 'Ma, God is going to forgive me if I kill someone over there?"' she said. "I said, 'Yes, you're doing what you have to do."'

Army Staff Sgt. Terry Hemingway, 39, Willingboro, N.J.

Sgt. Hemingway and photos of his children

Sgt. Terry Hemingway was proud to command two Bradley fighting vehicles, but he was ready for civilian life after 19 years in the military. He had planned to retire later this year.

He would have more time to spend with his wife, Darlene, and their three children -- Danisha, 7; Venetia, 9; and Terry Jr., 11, who in school pictures flash the same life-of-the-party smile as their father.

Hemingway, 39, of Willingboro, N.J., and based at Fort Benning, was killed April 10 when a car next to one of his Bradleys exploded.

Army Sgt. Gary Hemingway, 35, also was serving in Iraq. He was reassigned to escorting his brother's body home.

Their mother, Eva Hemingway-Shannon, held a Feb. 26 letter filled with lines that were pure Terry. As she read them, she had trouble stopping the tears.

"'Hey Mommy. How are you and Dad?' He always started off with, 'Mommy.' He always called me 'Mommy' unless he was mad at me," Hemingway-Shannon said.

Sgt. Brendon Reiss, 23, Hanna, Wyo.

Sgt. Reiss

Brendon Reiss finished a four-year stint in the military last August but decided to stay on for another year. Angela Reiss last spoke to her son when he shipped out in January.

"He said he had some anxiety about this and didn't want to leave his wife," she said, but felt duty-bound to go wherever the Marines sent him.

Reiss, 23, originally from Hanna and Casper, Wyo., was killed March 23 with other members of his Camp Lejeune unit as they came under attack.

Angela Reiss said she was at peace with her son's death.

"He died early so he didn't see too much horror," she said. "He's not going to have to experience the trauma of the war."

Reiss' wife, Tensley Reiss, lives with her family near Chattanooga, Tenn.