Staff Sgt. Robert J. Wilson

Staff Sgt. Robert J. Wilson wasn't new to Iraq, and he knew well the dangers. He wrote to a neighbor this month that he loved what he was doing all the same.

Wilson, 28, from suburban Boynton Beach, died Saturday of wounds from an explosive device that detonated while he was on foot patrol in Baghdad.

His mother and stepfather, who live in the Chalet subdivision, turned away requests for interviews Monday.

"They were very proud of him," said a neighbor who wrote to him recently and a week ago received a letter back, in which he described the satisfaction of serving.

A member of the 101st Airborne Division, Wilson entered the Army three months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He arrived at Fort Campbell, Ky., in September 2006. He served more than one tour in Iraq, the neighbor said.

Of 22,000 soldiers from his division, about half are in Iraq, base spokeswoman Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green said. Ten soldiers from the base have died this month.

"Everyone who lived with him, trained with him, ate with him, is there now," she said.

Wilson received a number of awards, including a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

In addition to his mother, Peggy Habian, and stepfather, Kevin Habian, he is survived by his father, Willie Wilson of Taylorville, Ill.

Elsewhere in Iraq, Sunni Arab guerrillas ambushed an American convoy in the northern city of Mosul with a roadside bomb Monday and sprayed survivors with machine-gun fire from perches in a nearby mosque, killing five U.S. soldiers.

It was the second devastating attack on U.S. forces this month, bringing the number of fatalities to 36 this year.

Although American fatalities have fallen sharply in Baghdad and Anbar province, they have not slowed in the north. Three-fifths of the American servicemen killed this year were in three Sunni Arab-dominated provinces north of Baghdad.