Daily Journal -- IUKA – Walter Vaughn said his son U.S. Army Sgt. Jason W. Vaughn, who was killed by a roadside bomb Thursday in Baqubah, Iraq, always put the needs of others before his own.

"He told me he didn’t want to be promoted, because he wanted to be in the fight helping the men and women he served with," an emotional Walter Vaughn said Friday. "Jason was so loyal. This is a very tough day."

Jason Vaughn of Iuka had served two tours of duty in Iraq. "He went back because he wanted to help his buddies over there," his father said.

The 29-year-old soldier died from wounds he suffered from a bomb near his vehicle, the Department of Defense confirmed late Friday night.

Vaughn, who graduated from Mississippi State University, served 24 months in Iraq over the last four years.

Vaughn was in Iraq with the Stryker Brigade based in Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

"Jason was very intelligent and just a great person," Walter Vaughn remembered. "I always told him as good as he was around people he should go into politics. He loved his family and was a wonderful son. I’m very proud of him."

Vaughn joined the Army in 2002 and was promoted posthumously to sergeant from specialist, Fort Lewis spokeswoman Catherine Caruso said.

Walter Vaughn said his son’s body will be returned sometime in the next week. Cutshall Funeral Home in Iuka is handling the arrangements which are incomplete.

More than 50 soldiers with ties to Mississippi have died in the current military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.