Only the day before, Jordan Ward had sat down with her 5-year-old son and told him that Daddy would be coming home soon.

Every time he called home, Pvt. Jason M. Ward would complain to his wife that he didn't feel well.

For the last several weeks, his stomach and intestinal problems seemed to be getting worse and, according to a phone call that he made home to his mother last week, the Army was sending him back to the States, presumably for treatment.

The family expected to see him by the weekend.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, telling our son that he wasn't going to see his father again after all," Jordan Ward said. "He took it really bad."

Pvt. Ward died one week ago Wednesday in Baghdad. He was 25.

The Army has described the cause of death as "non-combat related injuries," but military officials have not provided the family -- or the media -- with details about the circumstances.

Ward had been able to call home several times since his unit, part of the 1st Armored Division, was sent to the Middle East in March. But he never specifically told his family what was wrong with him. Perhaps he didn't know the diagnosis himself.

And it's not clear what role, if any, his illness might have played in his death.

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