ORANGE PARK, Fla. — The father of a Jacksonville-area soldier killed in Iraq said his son was a patriotic man who decided to join the Army because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Spc. Donald E. Valentine III, 21, of Orange Park, was killed Sept. 18 along with two other soldiers in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised bomb detonated near their unit. Also killed were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III, 23, of Pensacola, and Spc. Nicholas P. Olson, 22, of Novato, Calif.

Valentine joined the Army in 2004, just months after he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, where he played football and basketball, said Donald Valentine Jr., a Navy veteran.

“He joined because of Sept. 11. He wanted to do his best for the country,” the father said.

Valentine had been in Iraq for about a year and was scheduled to come home in November.

“We supported him 100 percent,” his father said. The younger Valentine planned a career in law enforcement when his Army duty was completed.

“There is no way you can prepare for this. You want them all to come home,” he said.

The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.