Record -- TRACY - Army Pfc. Bruce C. Salazar Jr. was never shy about his childhood dreams of becoming a soldier.

As a kid growing up in Modesto, his mom knew if he wasn't home in time for dinner, she could find him among the men in uniform at the military recruitment office down the street from their home.

  "I knew one day that was what he'd do. He'd bring home pamphlets and tell me he wanted to be a soldier," said his mother, Margaret "Suzie" Ruiz.

Salazar, who lived with a cousin in Tracy for three months before he enlisted in January 2006, had been stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga., before his 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq on May 11.

On Friday, two soldiers came to the door of his mother's Modesto home with the most difficult news.

Salazar, 24, was killed that same day by an improvised explosive device in Muhammad Sath, Iraq, the Army announced late Tuesday.

"They didn't have to say anything to me," Ruiz said. "I knew in my heart it wasn't good."

Salazar is the seventh soldier with Tracy ties to die in the Iraq war.

The soldier had a perpetual smile and longed to start a family while pursuing a career in the military, family members said.

"He really was one of those people who was happy-go-lucky," said cousin Claudia McIntyre, 30.

Salazar moved in with McIntyre in October 2005, and he immediately meshed with her family, McIntyre said. He began going to church with them and was baptized the Sunday before he shipped off to boot camp.

Salazar deployed in May as part of a recent troop surge intended to help stabilize Iraq, Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said.

Salazar's death added to the pain of growing war losses in Tracy, a city of 81,000. Among California cities, only the Los Angeles suburb of La Puente, with nearly 44,000 residents, has had more deaths in the Iraq war per capita. Five servicemen from La Puente have died in the conflict.

Given her son's determination, Ruiz said she had no way of keeping him from enlisting.

"He knew what he wanted to do, so he died doing what he wanted. There was nothing I could do to change his mind," Ruiz said.