Name: Washington (D.C.) Army National Guard Spc. Darryl T. Dent

Age: 21

From: Washington, D.C.

Assigned to the 547th Transportation Company, U.S. Army National Guard, based in Washington, D.C.

Incident: Washington (D.C.) Army National Guard Spc. Darryl T. Dent was killed Aug. 26 in southeast Arimadi, Iraq. Dent was in a convoy when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle.

Died: August 26, 2003

Spc. Darryl Dent was a goal-oriented person who got things done — and had a good time doing them.

“Most of the time he was happy, and when he wasn’t happy you wouldn’t know it because he was always trying to make sure that everybody else was happy,” said his sister, Lisa Justice of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. “He was trying to keep the peace all the time.”

Dent, 21, a National Guard member based in Washington, D.C., was killed Aug. 26 by a makeshift explosive device while on convoy duty in Iraq.

Vernon Dent said his son joined the Guard right out of high school and wanted to go to medical school. He spoke to his son a few weeks before, and the soldier said he was ready to come home.

“That’s my baby boy. A good kid. It really hurt me,” the father...