N.H. medic dies in Iraq on 2d tour of duty

Military service ran in his family

Medic David Stelmat, of the N.H. Army National Guard, comforted an Iraqi baby while in Baghdad last year. "He was as kind as he was strong," said Maryanne Rennell, his mother.

He was scheduled to finish his second tour of duty and return home in June, but David Stelmat planned to return to Iraq, to continue helping injured Iraqis and American soldiers to heal. The 27-year-old medic from Littleton, N.H., was killed Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near the Humvee in which he was riding. Two other soldiers also died in the explosion.

"He wanted to go back for two or three months of the year to help the Iraqi people in the same manner he was helping them now," said his mother, Maryanne Rennell, during a telephone interview yesterday from her home in Littleton. "He was as kind as he was strong. I just don't know what it's going to look like without him."

Stelmat, whose parents are divorced, had been in Iraq since the summer, serving as a medic with the 237th Military Police Company of the New Hampshire Army National Guard.

The sacrifices of serving in the military are familiar to Stelmat's family. His father, David Stelmat Sr., served in the Marines. His 29-year-old sister, Carisa, was an emergency room nurse in the Air Force for five years, his mother said. His other sister, Rebecca Campagna, 32, also is a nurse.

Stelmat's father said his son made the ultimate sacrifice.

"He was a medic. He wanted to help people," his father said during a telephone interview yesterday from his home in Centerville, Ohio. "He cared about people, and he loved his family."

This was Stelmat's second tour of duty, his family said. He served in Afghanistan as an Army Private First Class from 2003 to 2004. The Army granted him a general discharge, and he returned home, his mother said.

"He had a very, very tough time launching bombs when he knew human beings were on the other end," his mother said.

While at home, he trained as an emergency medical technician and as a combat medic before he returned to active service.

Stelmat was a 1998 graduate of Profile School in Bethlehem, N.H., where he played varsity soccer. He planned to become a physician's assistant when he finished his military service, his mother said.

He was very close to his two older sisters, who were major influences in his life, she added.

Stelmat was just as close to nature, his mother said. He satisfied his passion for skiing by working at Cannon Mountain, making snow in the winter and managing trails in the summer. For three years before he joined the military, he lived alone in a 10-by-10-foot cabin in Franconia, N.H., just to be close to nature, relatives said.

"There was no electricity, no running water," his mother said. "He loved living in that cabin. He didn't mind melting the snow for his water."

As Stelmat's body was being transported home, his family made funeral arraignments.

"There isn't a church in Littleton that's going to accommodate the number of people coming," his mother said. "He is loved by everyone up here."