Christopher E. Hudson's mom noticed something special about her child when he was in the second grade. As he flipped through a book, Sally Hudson thought he was only looking at pictures. But when she asked him questions, she said, she realized he had taught himself how to speed-read. Pfc. Christopher Hudson, 21, died March 21 after his Humvee drove over a bomb outside Baghdad. He was based at Fort Hood, Texas. He attended high school in Carmel, Ind., but left because the curriculum wasn't challenging, his mother said. He earned a GED certificate instead. Before his death, Hudson had survived two other attacks on his Humvee and a confrontation at a checkpoint with a man who threatened to kill him with a machine gun, Sally Hudson said. Her son reacted quickly and shot him. "He didn't tell me that was the only person he had to kill," she said. "But he left here a boy, and I didn't hear that in his voice. All the boy was gone. It was just soldier and man." He also is survived by his wife, Michelle, and their two young children.

— Associated Press