Access North Georgia -- A Georgia-based soldier from North Carolina died this week from injuries caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Sgt. Monta S. Ruth, 26, died Wednesday in Samarra, Iraq, where a bomb exploded near his vehicle during security patrol operations.

Ruth always wanted to be a soldier, said his sister, Nakeia Ruth, joined the Junior ROTC at Glen High School in Winston-Salem. Even at home, "he was like the peacekeeper between everybody," she said.

He had already served one tour of duty overseas and believed in his mission, she said.

"Yes, he wanted to go back (to Iraq)," his sister said of his second tour of duty. "It's just what he did."

Ruth, who was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., was supposed to return to the United States for a visit in October.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense said Ruth, an engineer, was on a security patrol, escorting an emergency ordinance disposal team to the site of another attack. Other soldiers were injured in the attack on Ruth's vehicle, but he was the only fatality, the spokeswoman said.