Zamora, 55, now sits in her mobile home in a working-class neighborhood in Sunland Park and brags a little about theguitar-playing 24-year-old son she called flaco and mi bebe.

Jose Zamora was killed Sunday in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee. Two other soldiers died in the explosion.

"My heart aches. Nothing can ever ever replace him," Ana Maria Zamora said. "I am very proud of him. He loved his profession."

The family still has no details on services or when Zamora's body will arrive in El Paso.

At least 16 soldiers from the El Paso region have died in Iraq since March 23, 2003, when the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed during the initial invasion.

Relatives set up a living-room photograph exhibit depicting Zamora's civilian and military life. They described him as a reserved but always friendly young man, who once played tennis and clarinet at Santa Teresa High School. He played guitar and sang at Iglesia de Dios in Canutillo, and he loved his car, a Hyundai Tiburon.

Ana Maria Zamora recalled one of the last conversations she had with her son. He would call every couple of weeks.

She said her son told her: "If I die, open the casket and see me, so that you'll know that war is real, not a game."

Zamora planned to marry his fiancee, Nadine Robles of Tennessee, in January and dreamed of a career in law enforcement. Relatives also were looking forward to his 25th birthday on Oct. 21.

Zamora was assigned to the Army's 2nd Brigade Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky. He entered the Army on Nov. 4, 2003, and reported to Fort Campbell after basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

His division left for Baghdad last fall and was in the process of returning to the United States, post spokesman George Heath said. He added that Zamora was a gunner on one of the new Humvees, which have extra armor, clearing a route for a recovery mission.

The explosion killed two other Fort Campbell soldiers, Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Seale, 25, of Grafton, W.Va., and Sgt. Carlton A. Clark, 22, of South Royalton, Vt.

The family last saw Zamora in June when he paid them a surprise visit on his sister Diana's 17th birthday.

"He was a great brother, always overprotective of his little sister,"

Diana Zamora said. "He was always happy, always joking around."

Zamora has an older sister, Anabel Gibson, 26, who lives in New York.

Jose's father, Jose I. Zamora, 57, a meat cutter in El Paso, talked of how his son loved the Army so much that he had re-enlisted for another five years.

"We are saddened but proud of our son. He served his country with all his heart," he said. "He was a good son."

Jose I. Zamora mentioned that faith in God and knowing his son died doing what he loved best have sustained him and his family since military officials notified them of his son's death.

"But sometimes you close your eyes and imagine that it is only a dream," he said.

Saul Nuñez, 27, grew up with Jose, and they often spent time together at their grandmother's house in Sunland Park.

"Joe was always smiling, always the one that was happy," Nuñez said. "I still can't get that out of my mind. He was a better person than most people."

In May, Zamora sent a Mother's Day card to his mother, thanking her and his father for praying for him and his Army buddies.

"Thanks for your prayers. I always feel the hand of God over my vehicle when we go outside the wire," he wrote. "To date, we have not lost anybody. We are the only company in our battalion that hopes to leave as we arrived, even though our job is super dangerous."