Cpl. Stanley J. Lapinski

Stanley J. Lapinski gave up a job at an electronics store to join the Army after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Of course, as a mother, I tried to argue with him," said his mother, Gaye. "That didn't change anything. He said, 'Mom, we can't allow someone to come into our country and do this to our people.'" Lapinski, 35, of Las Vegas, was killed June 11, 2005, when an explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was based at Fort Stewart. A college graduate with a degree in psychology, Lapinski turned down Army offers to attend officer school; he wanted to serve as a foot soldier, not behind a desk. Born in Pittsburgh and known as "Stash" to his family (Stanley in Polish), Lapinski got a football scholarship to Merrimack College in Massachusetts, but the football program was later eliminated. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 1992 and worked for Circuit City in Las Vegas before enlisting in the Army. He loved the blues and played the guitar. "Stan loved music. It was the rhythm of his soul," said friend Jeffrey Cowan.