The third-generation soldier had seen combat in the ‘91 Gulf War during a six-year stint after high school. Then, he tried civilian life and the National Guard before he realized the Army was where be belonged.

Trouble was, the Army was reluctant to take a 30-year-old infantryman with three children.

“The Army said no, no, no, but Roddy wouldn’t accept that,” said his father, Robert Solomon of Fayetteville. “He pushed and pushed and pushed.”

After more than a year of trying to get back in, Solomon won a one-on-one interview with a colonel. He made his case. The colonel said yes. Solomon rejoined the Army in May 2002.

He wanted an administrative position but returned to the infantry, his father said.

Solomon died Friday, March 28, when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was in drove off a cliff near Najaf in Iraq. Solomon, who is divorced, had a daughter, Asia, 8, and two sons, Talyn, 7, and Kenyon, 3.

Solomon’s father and older brother retired from the Army. Both his grandfathers were career soldiers, too. One died in Germany in World War II and is buried there.