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Jeffrey Wershow consumed book after book about epic wars and battle strategies. His interest was more than academic. Wershow's prep school had no ROTC program, so he participated in one through a local public school. In 1999, after graduating from high school, he joined the Army. He told his mother Anne Marie Mattison, left, and his father Jon Wershow, a former county commissioner, that he would serve a tour as an enlisted man, then go to college and officer-candidate school. Jeffrey believed the experience would later earn him more respect from the troops. After a three-year stint at Fort Bragg, N.C., he joined the Florida National Guard and attended Santa Fe Community College. He was also active in politics and helped run the successful re-election campaign of county commissioner Cynthia Chestnut. In December Jeffrey's unit was called up for duty. Wershow was shot while guarding U.S. officials attending a meeting at the University of Baghdad. --Reported by Broward Liston/Gainesville
JULY 6 DAVID PARSON RANK: Sergeant * AGE 30 * Kannapolis, N.C.
When David Parson was deployed to Iraq in May, "we were devastated and scared and didn't want him to go," says his sister Donna Gentry. Parson, a consistent source of strength and dependability for his family, assured them he would be fine. Parson had enlisted in the military in 1994--initially as a Marine--because he wanted to see the world. But when his father died in 1998, Parson left the Marines and returned to Kannapolis to help out his mother and sister. Civilian life didn't agree with him, however, and he eventually joined the Army. In February he was posted to Friedberg, Germany, and took along his wife Mary Elizabeth and their three children. But while conducting a raid on a house in Baghdad, Parson, a trained sniper, was shot and killed. He had been scheduled for a promotion to staff sergeant in August, and his family has been told it will be awarded posthumously. --Reported by Constance E. Richards/Kannapolis
JULY 7 CHAD KEITH RANK: Specialist * AGE 21* Albion, Pa.
There was never any question about what Chad Keith would do when he grew up. As a child, "he collected every G.I. Joe on the market," says his grandfather Charles Northrop. Keith's interest in the military was not hard to fathom: at least six close relatives had served. During his senior year of high school, he enlisted in the Army's delayed-entry program, and though he had never took part in track before, he joined the team, a move his coach now suspects was partly to help him prepare for basic training. After graduating from high school in 2000, Keith went straight into the Army and was assigned to Fort Bragg. When he wasn't training, he could often be found at the local toy store playing with kids in the aisles. In Iraq, similarly, he told his family he enjoyed handing out candy to children. His ability to charm crowds would have served him well in his other big ambition: to become U.S. President. (His niece Tasia, 3, called him Uncle America.) Keith was killed when a roadside bomb exploded while he was on patrol in Baghdad. He had requested to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. --Reported by Matt Baron/Batesville, Indiana