Vancouver sergeant killed in Iraq was 'soldier's soldier' (Robb Needham)

VANCOUVER -- Master Sgt. Robb G. Needham, 51, had the smile of an optimist. Just look at his official Army photo.

"That's him, all the time," said his mother, Margaret E. Needham. "Always smiling, always smiling."

Loved ones remembered Needham on Friday as a bighearted family man who believed it was his duty to serve in Iraq.

Needham died Wednesday when his patrol encountered small-arms fire, according to a Department of Defense news release. The Rev. John Bishop, a family pastor, said the sergeant was killed by a sniper's bullet while on patrol near Baghdad.

He would have turned 52 on Oct. 26 and was among the oldest U.S. soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 14 others 50 or older have died in those conflicts.

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