Washington Post -- A little more than six months after his deployment, Spec. Casey W. Nash of Baltimore was killed last week in Iraq when his combat unit came in contact with enemy forces using an improvised explosive device.

He was 22.

"He's extremely too young" to die, said Sandra Nash, his mother. "He was a wonderful boy."

Nash was one of three soldiers who died Friday in Tahrir, Iraq, of wounds sustained in the attack. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. The other soldiers were from Texas.

Nash joined the Army in February 2003 after graduating in 2002 from Eastern Technical High School in Baltimore. His first assignment was as a fire support specialist at Fort Hood.

Nancy Bourget, a spokeswoman at Fort Hood, said yesterday that Nash was assigned to the cavalry division in October 2005 and deployed to Iraq a year later.

He received several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon, Bourget said.

"All I can say is that I'm very proud of my son," his mother said.

Nash's friends echoed similar sentiments on his MySpace Web page.

"You are definitely a hero and you'll always be remembered as such," one person wrote.

Another said: "You had so much more life to live. You are so brave! You are a true hero in many peoples eyes. It's just not fair!"

For those who didn't know Nash, he offered a glimpse of himself on his MySpace page.

A baseball and football fan, he listed broadcasts of Orioles and Ravens games as two of his favorite television shows.

He had a preference for alternative rock, rap and country music. And although he loved the action thriller "Gone in 60 Seconds," he also had a fondness for "Shrek" and "Shrek 2."

His heroes: "My mother and my father for always being there when I needed them most."

When asked if he has children, Nash indicated: "Someday."

Nash was the second Baltimore soldier to be killed in two days.

The Pentagon reported Saturday that Pfc. Jonathan V. Hamm, 20, a Baltimore native, died Thursday from wounds he suffered after his forward operating base received indirect enemy fire.