Spc. Wilfred Flores Jr. was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, N.Y.

Another soldier, Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va., also was fatally wounded in the same blast that killed Flores. Arnette died Sunday, the Defense Department said.

Flores' parents, Vicky and Wilfred Flores Sr., of Lawton, both retired from the Army as sergeants first class.

Vicky Flores said her son and other members of his unit were embarking on a patrol when the explosion occurred.

"They were getting ready to go on patrol and then -- roadside bomb," Vicky Flores said in a telephone interview Monday.

Flores, a rifleman, would have been 21 on April 10. He had been home for a visit in January and reported back for duty on Feb. 1.

Vicky Flores said she talked to her son on the phone a couple of times since then and had received an e-mail the day before he died. He talked about how busy he had been.

"He was doing good. He was happy about turning 21," Vicky Flores said. "He was a very faithful person. He was a good Christian. He believed in God, and he believed in what he was doing."

Flores joined the Junior ROTC program while he was at Eisenhower High School in Lawton. He joined

Wilfred Flores Jr. is survived also by a sister, Theresa Siegrist, 23, of Lawton.

"He was just a happy-go-lucky kid. He loved everybody. He wanted to help anybody and everybody," Vicky Flores said. "He was doing what he wanted to do."

Flores listed his favorite television shows as "MASH," "CSI: Cold Case," "Adult Swim" and "The Simpsons" on his myspace.com Web page.

Flores' mother was in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War at the same time his father was stationed in Germany.

Flores was the third Oklahoman to die in Iraq during the month of March.

Marine Staff Sgt. Dustin Michael Gould, 28, was killed on March 2 at Ramadi, Iraq. He died while disarming a bomb. Gould, originally from Norman, graduated from high school in Longmont, Colo., where he enlisted in the Marines.

Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor Roberts, 21, Oklahoma City, died in a roadside bomb attack at al-Anbar Province in western Iraq on March 24. His funeral was Monday in Oklahoma City.

Services for Flores are pending with Whinery-Huddleston Funeral Services in Lawton.

Susan Hylton 581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com