The Associated Press

CARBON HILL, Ala. — Richard Gilmore feared the worst when there was a knock on his door at 12:30 a.m. July 19 and there were two soldiers standing there. The news was bad.

His 22-year-old son, Richard Gilmore III, had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, becoming the first person from Walker County to be killed in the war in Iraq.

Gilmore died July 18, along with three other soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter, when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol unit in eastern Baghdad.

Gilmore, a 2003 graduate of Walker High School, was a member of the Army's 126th Infantry Division, Alpha Company, based in Germany.

"The minute I opened the door and saw those two soldiers, I knew. I was just crushed," Gilmore told The Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle newspaper. "He was my best friend. We were very close. I'm going to cry many nights over this."

Funeral arrangements won't be made until Gilmore's body is returned to the U.S. Family members said Army officials told them it could take between seven and 10 days. In addition to his parents, Richard Gilmore III is survived by his wife, Jimmie Sue Gilmore, and his two children, a son Malakiah and a daughter Alexis.

"I know when I see his coffin, it's going to floor me," Gilmore said. "There's no use denying it, it's going to be really bad. This is a sad situation, especially for my grandchildren. I've faced a lot of things in my life, but I don't think it can get any harder or worse than this."

Gilmore said his faith told him his son would return home safely one day. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be," he said.

"He was supposed to have left Iraq in June and returned to Germany, but his stay had been extended," Gilmore said. "He was doing a great thing and he was a really brave man — a true war hero."

Gilmore said his son had been wounded a couple of times during his tour in Iraq, but he always volunteered to go back to the front lines.

Gilmore said his son told him recently the saddest thing he'd heard was when a soldier gets killed, Army officials call the name out three times during roll call and then ring a bell.

"He said, ‘Dad, we try not to cry, but you can't help but break down. It's the saddest thing you'll ever hear.' I got so sad when he told me that," Gilmore said. "I got to thinking about that. I'm sure Thursday morning, when they called Richard's name during roll call, they called it three times and then rang a bell for him."