Jeremy Brown

Wednesday, July 06 2005 @ 08:04 AM EDT

Colorado Springs Gazette -- A Fort Carson soldier died Sunday in Iraq of injuries suffered in a Humvee rollover near Tal Afar.

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Brown, 26, was taken to a hospital in Mosul, where he died, the Army said.

Brown, who was known as a bright young man with a big laugh and a knack for storytelling, was serving his second tour in Iraq with the regiment.

“He was one of those people who thought it was his duty to go over there and take care of his men and give it his all,” said his mother, Teresa Brown, in a telephone interview from her home in Mabscott, W.Va.

Brown joined the Army against his parents’ wishes at age 18 and quickly proved adept at soldiering. His mother said she never quite understood what drove him to enlist and volunteer for dangerous assignments, even though he tried to explain it.

“He told me before he left this time — he said, ‘Mom I know you don’t understand, but this is my job, and I’m good at my job.’”

Brown served with the regiment’s 66th Military Intelligence Company, which has helped thwart attacks and root out guerrillas.

The regiment has lost 44 soldiers in fighting in Iraq.

Brown is survived by his wife, Rosemary, whom he met in the Army while both were serving in South Korea, and 3-year-old son Seth, Teresa Brown said.

Seth looks just like his father. “He’s beautiful,” she said.

Brown’s life started with hardship. He was born prematurely with his twin brother, Jason, and the two struggled through the first days.

When he hit school age, Jeremy Brown became an academic standout who always seemed surrounded by friends, his mother said.

He wanted to sign up for the Army at 17, but his parents wouldn’t give their permission. One day after he turned 18, Jeremy Brown came home and told his parents he had enlisted. They tried to talk him out of it, but the young man was determined.

“He said, ‘No, I want to try,’ and he tried and did good with it,” Teresa Brown said.

She fought tears as she described how he wanted to leave the Army after this tour and spend more time with family. Brown lost his father five years ago and had been with his wife for only three months of a three-year marriage.

But he wanted to do something for his country first, his mother said.

“He felt it was his duty.”

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