A 21-year-old soldier from Athens died in Iraq of wounds when he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated March 14, the U.S. Army said March 16.

Army Cpl. Brian L. Chevalier was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Wash., the Army said.

"He enlisted in the Army because he wanted to make more out of his life," said his father, Rick Chevalier of Crooksville, Ohio. "I was proud of him and still am, but I wish he would've found something that wasn't dangerous."

The Army said Chevalier was mortally wounded in Mufrek, a suburb of Baqouba, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Rick Chevalier said his son left Ohio with his mother when he was 6 years old, and that they lived in Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas before settling in Athens.

Rick Chevalier said his son would visit him for months at a time, but lived mostly with his mother.

He said his son told him last month, "Don't worry, Dad, it's not really that bad over here. It's not like people are trying to kill you every day."

"I don't understand why we have to have so many of our troops over there, to blow the country up and try to rebuild it," said Rick Chevalier, who opposes the war. "We're wasting a lot of our people, when the troops could be here doing things for this country instead of doing things for people who are killing them."