Staff Sgt. Brian P. Hause

Josh Johnson easily remembers the first time he bumped into Brian P. Hause. "I met him the first day of 10th grade," Johnson said. "The first morning I went to school, he walked up to me, put his arm around me, and said, ''Hi, I''m Brian, and you''re going to be my new best friend.''" He was as good as his word. "He was like a big tough guy, but at the same time he was a marshmallow on the inside," Johnson said. Hause, 29, of Stoystown, Pa., died Oct. 23 of noncombat related medical causes at Balad Air Base. He was a 1998 high school graduate and was assigned to Shaw Air Force Base. His yearbook entry said he loved guitar, reading and writing poetry. More recently, he took up photography, and loved riding motorcycles and four-wheelers. He was remembered in the yearbook with the phrase, "Never take a day for granted." Divorced, Hause was the father of two children, Lexie, 7, and Cody, 4. "He had an uncanny ability to make the whole section smile," recalled Staff Sgt. Amos Tolson, Hause''s supervisor. "No matter how dirty, tired, hungry or sweaty we were, he knew what to say."