2nd Lt. James J. Cathey

James J. Cathey devoured books _ especially those related to the land he loved. "You could drive across Nevada with my son and he could tell you about every Indian battle, why it was done, where it took place and what happened afterward," said Caroline Cathey. Cathey, 24, of Reno, Nev., died Aug. 21 in an explosion near Karmah. He was based at Camp Lejeune. He finished high school in just over three years _ the same amount of time he would take to finish his degrees in anthropology and history from the University of Colorado in Boulder. "He was always in a hurry to grow up," said Tim Riley, who knew Cathey since first grade. "He was always in a hurry." Though he stood more than 6 feet tall with steel-cable arms and shoulders covered in tattoos, Cathey also wielded a disarming charm and tenderness hidden in the bulk. "Jim knew how to knit," said his wife, Katherine. "He could knit better than me." He left for Iraq with his wife pregnant and the sex of their child still unknown. She has since learned it is a boy, and will name him James Jeffrey Cathey Jr.