Anchorage Daily News -- A 2003 Palmer High School graduate, Shane W. Woods, was killed Wednesday in Iraq during combat operations, the U.S. Department of Defense has announced.

Woods and two other soldiers from the Army’s 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Division were killed in Ar Ramadi when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee.

Woods knew "from the time that he was a small boy that he wanted to be a soldier," said his father Wayne Woods of Palmer.

His son was a member of the Junior ROTC throughout high school and enlisted in the Army immediately following his graduation.

Woods served as a tank loader gunner and as a driver for his company’s first sergeant and commanding officer, his father said. He was stationed in Friedberg, Germany, when he was deployed first to Kuwait in January and then to Iraq Feb. 1.

His unit had been engaged in heavy combat everyday for the past several weeks, according to Wayne Woods.

But he wasn’t afraid, said his mother, Mae Woods. Shane loved the Iraqi people and believed in the mission, she said. And his Christian faith gave him strength.

"He always said, ‘Mommy, no matter what, you don’t have to worry. I’m in God’s hands and no matter what happens, I’m OK,’" said Mae Woods.