When Jacob D. Martir told his family he wanted to become a soldier, they knew to take the 15-year-old seriously. "He was the kind of kid who when he said he was going to do something, did it," said his aunt, Noemi Martir. Martir, 21, from Norwich, Conn., was killed Aug. 18 by hostile fire in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. He was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. When the future soldier expressed an interest in the military, his eldest sister bought him an Army jacket and Army pants. He wore them constantly. "He always wanted to become a hero," Olga Gutierrez said of her son. "As a mother, you cry. You want the best for your kids. You don't want them to die that way. But Jacob did everything he needed. I feel proud." The youngest of eight children, Martir was a native of Cagus, Puerto Rico. He came to Connecticut as an infant.

— Associated Press