Sgt. Richard Parker died when two roadside bombs detonated as his convoy passed them June 13 in southern Iraq. His unit was assigned to guard convoys traveling between Iraq and Kuwait.

Parker, with a Maine National Guard unit, was the gunner aboard an armored version of the Humvee, known as the M-1114. It was his second tour of duty in Iraq, a tour he volunteered for, and he was about 20 days short of coming home when he was killed.

Parker’s unit, an ad hoc group of Maine Guard members known as Security Force II, has been working on securing the north-south supply route from Kuwait into Iraq.

Among his surviving family are his parents, Scott Hood of Strong and Dixie Flagg of Avon. Parker also had an infant son, Keagan, whom he’d never met. Parker, who was athletic and loved the outdoors, was engaged to be married to Ashley Smith.

• Sgt. Joel A. House, 22, Lee, Army, June 23, 2007

Army Sgt. Joel A. House died from wounds sustained in the attack in Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad.

He grew up in the eastern Penobscot County town of Lee and graduated from Lee Academy in 2003, according to his mother, Deanna House.

House, who was on his second tour in Iraq, suffered head wounds from a suicide bomb attack in March 2007. After that attack, he spent time with his parents and older brother and sister in Florida before returning to Iraq in April.

House enlisted right out of school and was serving with the First Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas. He came from a family with a long tradition of military service, and his great-great-grandfather, Maj. Charles James House, served in the Civil War.

House was a quiet and humble man who was devoted to his family and his faith. He enjoyed playing the guitar, fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities.

• Pfc. Jason E. Dore, 25, Moscow, Army, July 8, 2007

Army Pfc. Jason Dore was eight months into his tour of duty in Iraq when he was injured while on patrol in a Humvee. He died the next day.

Dore, who joined the Army in 2005, attended Upper Kennebec Valley High School in Bingham before graduating from the Job Corps in Bangor. While growing up in the Moscow area, where his mother Gail Dore still lives, he enjoyed being outdoors and fishing at Hunter’s Pond in Bingham.

Dore’s father, Jody Dore, lives in North Anson. Dore also left behind a 15-year-old brother, Logan French, who lives with his mother.

• Cpl. Blair William Emery, 24, Lee, Army, Nov. 30, 2007

Cpl. Blair William Emery died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baqubah.

Emery, whose parents live in Lee, served with the 571st Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade. He is survived by his widow, Chu Emery.

Emery, who attended Lee Academy, was originally scheduled to return to the U.S. at the end of October, but his deployment was extended by three months, his family said.

Emery was the second soldier from Lee in 2007. He and Sgt. Joel House graduated from Lee Academy one year apart.

When Emery was killed, Gov. Baldacci said the events were “very devastating for this small community to have two fine individuals taken like this before their time.”

• Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Allen Lowery, 38, Houlton, Army, Dec. 14, 2007

Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Allen Lowery, a career soldier, was killed in Mosul. Lowery was serving with the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, III Corps, based in Fort Hood, Texas.

He died of wounds he sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire.

The 1987 Houlton High School graduate arrived in Iraq last month on his second tour.

Lowery’s father still lives in Houlton.

• Pvt. Tyler Jacob Smith, 22, Bethel, Army, March 21, 2008

Pvt. Tyler Jacob Smith, a 2004 graduate of Telstar Regional High School, died from so-called “indirect fire,” after an attack on his base near Baghdad.

Smith had been serving as a combat engineer in Iraq since the end of November.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Ga. He was serving at Forward Operating Base Falcon, just outside Baghdad, when the attack began.

Smith was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and Good Conduct medals.

Gov. John Baldacci also awarded Smith the Silver Star and the Maine state flag, which hung over the the governor’s mansion at the Blaine House in Augusta.

Smith was married to Heather Bolstridge Smith. His parents, Martin and Wendy, live in Bethel.

• Sgt. Nicholas A. Robertson, 27, Old Town, Army, April 2, 2008

Army Sgt. Nicholas Robertson, 27, died at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany of wounds he suffered while conducting dismounted combat operations in the Zahn Khan District of Afghanistan. He had been outside his vehicle when he was shot.

Robertson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Airborne, Fort Bragg, N.C. The University of Maine graduate enlisted in the Army in 2005. He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

A 1998 graduate of Brewer High School, he had been living in Holden.

A talented drummer who studied French and classical studies, he graduated from UM’s Honors College and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society, an undergraduate honor organization.

Robertson was serving his second deployment to Afghanistan as a translator. His parents, David and Nancy Robertson, live in Venice, Fla. He has two brothers, Doug and Todd.

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