Thomas Foley was a son of Tennessee. He was also a husband and the father of a 6-month-old boy.

Foley, 23, was killed April 14 near Baghdad in a grenade explosion that also took the life of Pfc. John Brown and injured two other service members. The incident is under investigation.

Foley was from Dresden, a small rural town in the northwest corner of Tennessee. Like so many young men and women with dreams but not much money, he saw the military as an opportunity.

When he graduated from Dresden High School in 1999, Foley wanted to be a schoolteacher, his stepfather, Brian Darden, said. But Foley couldn’t afford college tuition, so he turned toward the Army, as did his brother, David.

“The Army flashed dollar signs in their faces they jumped at it,” Darden said. Foley signed up in June 1999 and was later based at Fort Campbell in Kentucky as a weapons specialist with the 101st Airborne Division.

He was remembered as energetic and kind by his family. He and his wife, Paulette, were married for less than two years and had one child, relatives said. “Tommy enjoyed life to (the) fullest,” Darden said. “He was a good Christian boy. His life was cut short. Tommy won’t be able to be anything now.”

Family members said that military officials were trying to contact David Foley, who like his big brother, was fighting in Iraq.