Pam Marshall of Tulsa received a telephone call Wednesday from her Army son in Iraq, asking if she had received the dozen pink roses he sent her for Mother's Day.

She told him they hadn't arrived, so Spc. James E. Marshall, 19, then told his mom he loved her. He also said he had to go out on a mission and would call her back to learn if she had received the Mother's Day roses.

The roses arrived about two hours later that day, but "the telephone call never came," the mother said Friday after being notified that her only son had been killed in Baghdad.

The Department of Defense said Marshall was killed Wednesday when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

The explosion in Baghdad also claimed the life of Pfc. Bradley G. Kritzer, 18, of Irvona, Pa.

Both soldiers were assigned to 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

Pam Marshall said she has questions about why America is at war in Iraq, but wouldn't be bitter and would celebrate his life as she goes along without her only son.

She said she would get her strength from the memory of her only child and her friends at Antioch Baptist Church, where the Rev. M.C. Potter is the godfather of her son.

The pastor, associate pastors and church members have been to her home since learning the