Joining the Army was something that Spc. Chad A. Edmundson, killed in Iraq this week, always wanted to do, according to his cousin, Justin Swartz of Duncansville.
Edmundson, 20, of Williamsburg and Swartz, 23, of Duncansville spent a good deal of time together.
"He would come up and we would do stuff, fishing and camping," Swartz said.
Both liked to be outdoors and listening to the rock and roll group Strung Out, he said.
According to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Edmundson joined the service in January 2007 and completed his basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.
Edmundson however didn't graduate from Williamsburg High School until June 6.
By January he and his unit from the Frankstown Armory in Altoona were in Iraq.
The young soldier was serving with the National Guard's Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry in the 56th Stryker Brigade.
His unit, stationed at Camp Liberty north of Baghdad, would join with Iraqi forces on patrol, and according to the National Guard, Edmundson died when an improvised explosive device went off Wednesday while his squad was in Abu Ghraib.
Three other soldiers were wounded but not seriously hurt, according to Lt. Col. Christopher Cleaver of the National Guard in Harrisburg.
He said those soldiers are expected to return to duty.
The officer said he could not release the names of the wounded or confirm if any of the wounded were from the Altoona area.
The blast that killed Edmundson also wounded 16 Iraqi civilians.
Swartz said that Edmundson was "pretty patriotic" and was excited about being in the Army.
Swartz's brother, Jordon, also is serving in Iraq. He said Jordon was in the same unit as Edmundson but the two were not serving together.
The Edmundson family has requested that Jordon be permitted leave to attend Edmundson's funeral, but there has been no word if that request has been granted.
On Thursday, Edmundson's sister, Jessica Miller, said Chad was anxious to come home.
She said he was "a great kid, and his entire family is so proud of him."
Swartz described his cousin as so many others did this week.
"He was an outgoing, great, really good kid. He just liked to make everybody happy," Swartz said.
He was a young man "who lived in the moment," he said.
Swartz wasn't sure what his cousin wanted to do after his tour in Iraq, but said, "I think he wanted to stay in the Army."
Maj. Gen. Jessica L. Wright, commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard, said in a statement Friday that "Spc. Edmundson was a dynamic, young soldier who had enormous potential in the military or any other career field he would have chosen."
Edmundson's body was expected to arrive in the U.S. late Friday, but funeral director John Bolger of the Bolger C. Funeral Home in Williamsburg said no specifics on the funeral were available yet.
Thirty-four Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Edmundson was the second to die from the 56th Stryker Brigade.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
