AZ Central -- Glendale solider Pvt. Corey L. Hicks' family remembered him Monday as a good kid who always planned to be in the service.

Hicks, 22, died Friday after an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq.

His stepfather, Tim Settle, said the Cortez High School graduate was always trying to make everyone laugh. The last time he talked to Hicks was Thursday when he asked Settle to begin looking for a truck that they could fix up when he got back from Iraq in November.

"I'd want him to be remembered as a hero," Settle said. "It took a lot of guts to go over there and sign up for the military in a time of war."

Hicks told his family that he was going to Iraq about a week before he left in early March 2007.

Settle and Hicks' mother, Dawn Settle, had planned to send a care package Saturday filled with items he had requested including Twizzlers, sunflower seeds and his favorite CDs.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be released, but the service will be in Glendale, Settle said.

Hicks served in the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas.

==Another news story==

FORT HOOD, Texas — The Defense Department says an Army soldier from Arizona has died in Iraq.

Pvt. Corey L. Hicks of Glendale died Friday in Baghdad when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. The 22-year-old was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

His stepfather says Hicks graduated from Cortez High School. Tim Settle says he talked to his stepson the day before he died and Hicks wanted him to look for a truck they could fix up when he returned home.

Settle says he wants Hicks to be remembered as a hero. He says it took courage to sign up for the Army in a time of war.

His funeral will be in Glendale, but arrangements are incomplete.