Courier Journal -- Sgt. Robert W. Ehney of Lexington was one of three soldiers killed after a homemade bomb hit an Army Humvee on Sunday near Taji, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad.

"He was proud to be a soldier and proud to serve his country," his father, William Ehney of Lexington, said last night. "But he was very concerned about the younger kids in the unit" and how they would handle combat.

Robert Ehney was 26.

The other two soldiers killed were Cpls. Jason B. Daniel of Fort Worth, Texas, and Shawn T. Lasswell Jr. of Reno, Nev., according to the Department of Defense. Both were 21.

When Ehney joined the Army at 23, several soldiers in basic training -- most of them 18 or 19 -- affectionately gave him the nickname "Pops," his father recalled.

Robert Ehney was the gunner in the Humvee filled with soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

This was Ehney's second tour in Iraq. His first began about three months after the war started, and he returned in December.

He took up target shooting as a boy and he continued as an adult, though he was not a hunter, his father said. He also enjoyed riding motorcycles, using computers and playing with his 4-year-old son, William Ehney said.

Robert Ehney attended Eagle Crest High School in Centennial, Colo. He left school but eventually earned his GED.

The family moved from Aurora, Colo., to Casper, Wyo., where Robert married at age 20. About nine months later, the Ehney family moved to Lexington.

Robert Ehney's first marriage ended in divorce, and he was engaged to be married again, his father said.

Ehney's father, mother and son were notified at their home Sunday night. He is also survived by his grandmother and sister.

"There were two soldiers (who came to the home), and you knew what they were there for," William Ehney said.