Spc. Lyle Rymer, 24, of Roland was with the 239th Engineer Company guarding an area in central Baghdad where engineers were setting up barriers when he was hit by a single shot from an insurgent sniper's rifle, Lt. Brian Mason, Rymer's platoon leader, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Rymer was the 27th soldier killed from the 39th Infantry Brigade. Military officials told Rymer's relatives he was helping secure the area before Sunday's elections in Iraq. Rymer was the only soldier shot, a military spokesman told the newspaper.

Chuck Davis, a teacher at Roland High School, remembered Rymer from a study hall session held for students who came back from vocational tech school and had about 30 minutes of free time before resuming classes at the high school.

"He really didn't stand out," Davis said Monday. "He was a quiet kid that took care of his business. He was the youngest of three kids, and he really wanted to graduate. That was his big thing. He wanted to graduate on time with his class, with his friends."

Davis said Rymer graduated in 1999 ranking somewhere in the middle of a class of 90 students. He said Rymer studied small engines at a vocational tech school half a day during his junior and senior years of high school.

In the class, he said, students might work on lawn mowers, chain saws, go-karts or motorcycles.

"They just worked on anything," Davis said. "They have an auto mechanics class up there, so small engines was pretty much everything else."

Davis said Rymer had worked at a grocery store in Roland, a town of about 2,800 people 5 miles west of Fort Smith, Ark.

"He was just a quiet, unassuming guy," Davis said. "I had no idea the military was in his future."

Bobby Sue Drake, Rymer's grandmother, said Rymer joined the National Guard two years ago to help his family.

"That's what he decided to do," Drake said. "He liked it. He said, 'Somebody's got to defend this country. It might as well be me.' He was a great kid."

Drake said two military officials informed the family on Friday.

"I kept saying, 'Are you sure? There has to be a mistake,' " Drake said. "You just want it to be a mistake."

Funeral services for Rymer are pending, according to Edwards Funeral Home in Fort Smith. He will be buried at the National Cemetery in Fort Smith, the funeral home said.

Rymer is survived by his wife, LaTisha; a son, Shawn, 4; and an infant daughter, Jasmine, Drake said.

Rymer saw his newborn daughter during a two-week furlough in November, Drake said.

He last spoke with his sister, Michelle Rymer of Roland, on Jan. 24 and said then that he wouldn't be able to call for several days because phones would be closed down because of the elections.

"We told each other we loved each other," Michelle Rymer said.