Brad Puffer, Salem, NH - A soldier from Salem, New Hampshire, was killed in Iraq while trying to disarm a roadside bomb. Staff Sergeant Edmond Lo graduated in 2004 from Salem High School and was on his second tour of duty.

"I feel a lot of sorrow."

He was a 23-year-old soldier from Salem, NH, a first generation American on his second tour of duty in Iraq. His mother describes her son as "one of a kind."

Rosa Lo, mother: "He's a tough guy he just wants to do it, the military was a good influence for him."

Staff Sgt Edmond Lo died Saturday when the roadside bomb his team was trying to dismantle, exploded. He is the only one of six children who chose to join the military.

"He's a great kid. He's anything you could ask for from a son and he is very determined. What ever he wants to do he just go ahead and do."

The 2004 graduate of Salem high school is the third recent graduate to die in the Iraq War. His name to join two others now etched in stone at the town's Veteran's Memorial.

Tom Puzzo, JROTC:

"It was just a shock."

Chief Master Sgt Tom Puzzo is head of the school's JROTC program. He says Lo had stayed in touch after graduation. He last saw him in December.

Tom Puzzo, JROTC:

"The last thing I said was keep your head down and be careful. He was a very conscientious person, very articulate. Everything he did he made sure he did it exactly like it was supposed do be done he was just very dedicated."

Puzzo says Lo turned down a three-year scholarship to a technical institute, deciding to join the Army and train to dismantle bombs instead.

"And he didn't really give me a good reason for it, he said it was something he wanted to do." Lo's death comes just days before a June 30th deadline to pull U.S. combat troops out of urban areas in Iraq. For now, the dangerous work continues. Three young lives already lost from one town, another son who will never return.

Rosa Lo, mother:

"We will miss him forever and your whole lives you are waiting for him to come back."

==Another news story==

SALEM — A 23-year-old local soldier, who worked as an explosives expert, was killed in Iraq over the weekend while trying to disarm a roadside bomb.

Staff Sgt. Edmond Lo, a 2004 graduate of Salem High School, was on his second tour of duty when he died early Saturday, according to his mother, Rosa Lo.

Edmond Lo was part of a team of soldiers trying to disarm the bomb in Samarra City about 1:30 a.m. EST, when it exploded. Army officials told the family it's unclear exactly what happened, his mother said.

The Lo family learned of Edmond's death from two soldiers who came to their Salem home at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, she said. The military didn't announce Lo's death until yesterday.

"When I saw them it was a very big surprise," Rosa Lo said. "It was very scary and I was nervous. I did not know what happened, then they asked me to sit down."

She described her son as a bright, determined young man who worked hard in school and in the Army. Lo was awarded a full, three-year scholarship to Rochester Technical Institute, but decided to pursue a career in the military instead.

He trained as an explosives expert after his first tour of duty in Iraq. "He was outstanding," his mother said. "He was among the very few who passed the class."

"He has always tried to do his best with anything he learned," she said.

Lo was the youngest of six children. He leaves behind three sisters and two brothers. His youngest brother, Norman, was a 2008 graduate of Salem High School and also a JROTC cadet. He was assigned to the 797th Ordnance Company, 79th Ordnance Battalion at Fort Hood in Texas.

Few details about Lo's death were available until the Department of Defense's announcement late yesterday. Until then, the military had only said a soldier was killed by a bomb explosion Friday.

His death comes just before the June 30 deadline in which all U.S. combat troops will be pulled out of urban areas in Iraq.

Lo was a memorable presence at Salem High School, where he took the JROTC program for two years.

"He impressed me as a young man with quiet confidence," Superintendent Michael Delahanty said. "He was kind, he was incredibly respectful. He was what you would want your own son to be like."

Lo was last home at Christmas.

Tom Puzzo, chief of Salem's JROTC program, said Lo made sure to call him while he was in town over the holidays and came to his home for dinner.

"We stayed in touch over the years," Puzzo said. "He was a great kid who came from a great family. He was totally involved in the program whether it was the drill team, the color guard. Whatever we did, Ed was there."

Puzzo said Lo was one of the top cadets in his division during his senior year.

"He was a fun-loving guy, but on the quiet side," Puzzo said. "Everybody liked him. He was easy to get along with and very loyal."

The Lo family immediately flew to Dover Air Force Base in Maryland on Saturday and attended a dignified transfer service there Sunday night, when Lo's body was removed from the aircraft that brought him from Iraq. The family returned to Salem yesterday afternoon. Lo's body is now in the hands of the Army's medical examiner's office, where it is expected to remain for about a week.