Roehl had written to his mother that he wanted to come home. Yet two leaves in a row were canceled, and his holiday gifts were never opened. He died April 11, 2006, when a roadside bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Younger brother Stephen, 15, said, "He (joined) to free a lot of people so they had a better life. That's the part that makes me proud. But the part that makes me sad is he won't be coming home anymore."