NEPA News -- A man who re-enlisted in the Army in 2003, telling his family that he felt driven to put his training in destroying land mines to work in the Iraq war, has been killed by a roadside bomb, family members and military officials said Friday.

Sgt. Andrew Jodon of Burnside Township, Centre County, was killed Thursday when the bomb exploded near his Humvee near the Iraqi town of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

"He was very committed," said his mother, Sandy Watson. "He would get upset when people would say we shouldn't be there because in his heart he knew we needed to be there."

Jodon, known to his family and friends as Andy, was frequently the gunner in a Humvee, relatives said.

His wife, Bobbi Jo Jodon, said details about her husband's death remained unclear Friday.

"There's two different reports, and we don't know which one is right," she said. "One says he was the gunner, and one says he was the driver."

Watson said she hoped to get more information about her son's death.

"I just want answers," she said. "I just want the military to give us the facts."

Jodon was a 1996 graduate of Bald Eagle Area High School, where he was on the track and football teams. He was the second U.S. soldier from Centre County killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

He previously served with the Army in Germany and Bosnia.