GrandForks Herald -- BISMARCK, N.D. - Spc. Jeremiah Santos got applause when he spoke to his church congregation this spring about his military service Iraq. On Sunday, church members in Devils Lake were mourning his death.

Santos, 21, who lived in Devils Lake and Minot, died in Baghdad on Thursday in a roadside bomb attack, Army officials said. A roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee during combat, the military said Saturday in a statement.

The Rev. Bruce Dick, of the Bethel Evangelical Free Church, said Santos addressed the congregation in March, while home on leave from Iraq.

"Jeremiah really loved serving his country, and told us he was proud of what he did - and he made no apologies for being there," Dick said. "He said he loved the people there."

Dick said Santos' speech drew applause from the congregation of about 175 people.

On Sunday, the mood had changed with the news of his death.

"We shed a lot of tears," Dick said.

Santos also had talked with a youth group at the church, while home on leave this spring.

"Even our children are aware of who he is," Dick said.

The war has brought a U.S. death toll of about 2,500.

"Until now, the number 2,500 had just become a number to us but now we have a face and a name," Dick said. "It has touched us here and we will never look at that number the same."

Dick described Santos as "self-confident, strong and very determined."

Dick said Santos had turned his life around before joining the military.

"Jeremiah had come through some tough times - he made some bad choices as a kid and had come out that," Dick said. "Everybody was proud of him."

Santos left school and attended the Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center in Minot, Devils Lake Principal Ryan Hanson said. He earned a GED, and graduated in the facility maintenance program at the Job Corps Center in January 2004, officials there said. He also attended a semester of classes at Minot State University.

Santos' stepfather, Patrick McGlone, said Jeremiah met his wife, Jessica, in Minot.

"He was a great boy who became a very strong man," McGlone said. "He believed in what he was doing and had strong faith in God."

Santos was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division of Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.

McGlone said Jessica Santos lives at Fort Hood. He said she originally is from Montana.

Laurie McGlone, Santos' mother, has been working as a temporary nurse in American Samoa. Patrick McGlone said she was notified there of her son's death. She was en route to the United States on Sunday, he said.

Santos' father, Shannon Santos, lives in San Diego.

Dick said a funeral was planned in San Diego, and a memorial service also was slated for Devils Lake, although details were not final, he said.

Santos was the 13th U.S. service member with North Dakota ties who was reported killed while on duty in Iraq. Two other solders were killed this month in Afghanistan.