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Army soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq were remembered by their families as heroes in the fight for freedom.

Sgt. Eugene Williams, 24, of Highland, N.Y., one of four soldiers killed in Saturday's attack, had a 3-year-old daughter and was going become a father again in June, his wife said Monday on NBC's "Today" show.

Fighting back tears, Brandy Williams said she would tell her children that their father gave his life for his country, "and that even though he's not here, he loves them with all his heart and that he's always going to be our hero."

The four members of the Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were killed when a taxi drove up to an Army checkpoint north of the Iraqi city of Najaf and exploded after the driver waved for help. It in the first suicide attack since the U.S.-led invasion began.

The other victims were Cpl. Michael E. Curtin, 23, of Howell, N.J., and Pfcs. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, of Conyers, Ga., and Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, of Palm Bay, Fla.

In Palm Bay, about 70 miles southeast of Orlando, Weldon's mother, Sgt. Maj. Jean Weldon, said she had just recently retired after two decades in the military.

Her son joined the service because "he wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps," Jean Weldon said Monday. "He chose infantry because he's a tough guy."

She said he left a fiancee, a 23-year-old sister and a 15-year-old brother. "My son was the strength of the household," Jean Weldon said. "After I got divorced, Michael was the man of the house."

Curtin's family was informed of his death Saturday afternoon by an officer from Fort Monmouth. The parents, Michael and Joan Curtin, requested privacy but released a statement through the fort.

"Although he was with us but a short time, he displayed tremendous bravery, unwavering faith and a devout love for his family. He was fighting for our freedom, which we should never take for granted. He was a hero in our eyes," they said.

News of Williams' death spread quickly Sunday night through Highland, N.Y., a Hudson Valley hamlet 70 miles south of Albany.

"This just brings the family together," Williams' sister, Lori Ackert, told the Poughkeepsie Journal. "It opens our eyes and makes us realize you can die at anytime."

Brandy Williams was notified of her husband's death late Saturday at their home in Hawaii. She last spoke to him March 15.

"He told me that he wasn't going to be able to call for a while," Williams told "Today." She said he had written some letters for her and their daughter, "but we haven't received them yet."

Ackert said another brother, Erick Williams, 19, is also in the Army and stationed in Iraq. She said the family was trying to contact him Sunday about his brother's death.

Friends of Rincon remembered him as a high-spirited person who was active in cheerleading, gymnastics and drama in Salem High School just outside Atlanta.

His classmate Carrie Rose got to know him while performing in the drama departments spring musical, Grease.

"He was really great," Rose told The Rockdale Citizen. "He was a lot of fun. He had a great smile, and he was always very positive and had a lot of high energy."

photo credit and caption:

Cpl. Michael E. Curtin, of Howell, N.J., shown in this undated family photo, was one of four U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division soldiers killed Saturday, March 29, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled taxi at a U.S. checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq. (AP Photo/Curtin Family)

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