Private First Class Grant Dampier, 25, of Merrill, Wisc., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, at Fort Carson, Colo., and served during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He died May 15, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat patrol operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

A 1999 graduate of Merrill Senior High School, PFC. Dampier worked for Marathon Electric in Wausau, Wisc., before enlisting in the Army in September 2004 following the birth of his third daughter. He joined so his kids would look up to him – he wanted to be their hero. PFC Dampier was deployed to Iraq for a one-year tour a year later in December 2005.

PFC Dampier enjoyed fishing with his daughters, watching the Green Bay Packers, Green Bay Packers, hip-hop music, truck racing and his car. “He loved tattoos,” said his mother. “He had the footprints of his two older daughters tattooed on his back. He planned to get the footprints of his youngest upon his return. He used to say they walked all over him anyway, so he might as well carry that with him forever.”

PFC Dampier is survived by his wife, Heidi and three daughters Alexis, Starr and Kylee.