Joel K. Brattain was an avid snowboarder who left the slopes of Lake Tahoe to meet a new challenge: becoming a paratrooper in the Army. "Joel's motto was 'go big or go home,'" said his father, Gary Brattain. Pfc. Brattain, 21, of Santa Ana, Calif., died March 13 after an explosive struck his military vehicle in Baghdad. He was based at Fort Bragg, N.C. Brattain enlisted in March 2003 after graduating high school and moving to Lake Tahoe to focus on snowboarding, his father said. He deployed to Iraq in January. He wanted to give something back to his country, his family said. "He loved this country and he believed in what we were doing," said his brother Kris Brattain, 27. "I'm the older brother but he'll be my hero for the rest of life." Survivors also include his mother, six siblings and his wife.

— Associated Press