Family from Mass. mourns soldier

Army Private First Class Kenneth J. Iwasinski and his father had plans when the soldier returned from war duty in Iraq.

They were going to work on a car together and catch up, the father, Dominick Iwasinski, said last night.

Instead, the elder Iwasinski was remembering his son - killed Sunday in Baghdad - for his strong sense of patriotism and commitment to protecting his country.

"He was very patriotic," Dominick Iwasinski said in a phone interview from his home in Belchertown. "He believed in everything he was doing [in Iraq], he just believed in it."

Iwasinski, 22, was a member of the Second Infantry Division's Second Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Carson, Colo. He was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations, the Department of Defense announced yesterday.

His family was notified of his death early yesterday, his father said.

Iwasinski was a gunner on the vehicle when he was killed, his father said.

"When he came home on leave, you could see that he saw a lot of bad things, but he still walked proud," Iwasinski said.

He said his son had left Belchertown High School before graduating, and enlisted in the Army just days after receiving his GED in March 2006.

"When he enlisted, he knew he was going to Iraq," Iwasinski said. "He enlisted in the infantry. He knew he was going into harm's way."

Iwasinski lived with his father and stepmother, Tawnia Iwasinski, in Belchertown.

His mother and sister, Tracy and Amanda Taylor, live in Chicopee, his father said.

According to the military, 3,819 US servicepeople have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

Iwasinski said his son had served in Iraq for a year, and had been due to return to the states earlier this month, before his duty was extended until January.

Funeral arrangements will be made once Iwasinski's body is flown back, probably later this week, his father said.

Iwasinski said he is remembering his son for his big heart and his accomplishments.

"It takes someone special to do something like that and a special kind of commitment . . . I have to believe in what he believed in," Iwasinski said.