Van Buren, NY  —  A 23-year-old soldier died Monday after his convoy struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, the Department of Defense said.

Army Spc.Christopher C. Simpson, a native of the Van Buren hamlet of Memphis, was in his second combat tour in three years, his family said. He attended Jordan-Elbridge schools until ninth grade, then attended schools in Rome, where his mother lived.

His father, Scott Simpson, lives in Memphis. His mother, Mary Catherine McLaughlin, lives in Hampton, Va., family said.

"He's a kid a parent dreams about," said Scott Simpson, a first sergeant with the Air National Guard. "I knew the military was going to be a good thing for him. I have no regrets."

Christopher Simpson was based at Fort Carson, Colo., attached to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

A second member of the unit, Staff Sgt. Michael D. Elledge, 41, of Brownsburg, Ind., was also killed in the blast, the Army said.

Scott Simpson said a military funeral would be held in about a week or so.

==Another story==

Simpson joined the Army in 2004 and spent nearly all of 2006 in Iraq with the brigade.

"Everybody else came first, and he came second," said his mother, Kate McLaughlin, in a phone interview from her home in Hampton, Va. "He was adored by so many people."

Simpson grew up in Rome, N.Y., where he met his girlfriend of eight years, McLaughlin said. Simpson planned to use his combat pay to buy her an engagement ring.

"The one thing he wanted to do with that money is ask Carol to marry him," she said.

Simpson also wanted to go to college and study to become a history teacher.

"He was absolutely wonderful with kids," McLaughlin said.

Simpson had filed paperwork to get out of the Army last October, but then his unit got deployed, McLaughlin said.

"Chris is livin it up in Iraq" reads Simpson's Myspace.com Web page. Simpson loved kayaking and snowboarding, according to his page, which features pictures of him on the slopes at Keystone. His musical tastes included "a little bit of everything," from Tool to Johnny Cash.

"Rest in Peace Chris, I will always think of you and have you in my heart forever," one friend posted. Another wrote "Aeternum vale," Latin for "farewell forever."

==Additional information==

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Mar. 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during combat operations. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.