WYOMING, Mich. — A soldier from suburban Grand Rapids who a family friend says had a longing for opportunities to travel was killed in Iraq when a primitive bomb exploded near his vehicle.

Spc. Eric T. Burri, 21, of Wyoming, died Tuesday in Baghdad, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. He was assigned to the 623rd Quartermaster Company, 1st Corps Support Command, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Virginia Burri told Grand Rapids radio station WOOD-AM that her grandson joined the Army after graduating from Kelloggsville High School. Flags at the school flew at half-staff as word of his death spread in the area.

Woody Watson, a close family friend, said the Army was Burri’s ticket to travel. His drive was sparked by a year Burri spent in Uruguay as an exchange student while in high school, Watson said.

Watson said Burri wanted to learn languages and meet different people.

“We’re sad. We’re hurt,” Watson told The Detroit News. “He was brave to go and fight for freedom — not only for his country, but for others around the world.”

Engaged to marry a 21-year-old Saginaw woman, he was home a couple of weeks ago to attend an uncle’s funeral, his grandmother said. Burri also is survived by his parents, Joanne and John, and an older brother, Andrew.

While overseas, Burri leaned on his trust in God, Watson said.

In an e-mail to his family, he wrote: “I know that all of you will keep me in your prayers and thoughts and also God will be watching my back.”

Burri had been looking forward to returning from his tour of duty in Iraq, said family friend Bruce Sova of Wyoming.

“He wanted to get back, get it done, because he was due to come back in October,” Sova told the Detroit Free Press. “He just wanted to start his life.”

Burri was the 53rd member of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties to be killed in Iraq.