David R. Staats dies of injuries from I.E.D.

As a child David Staats whizzed around the house, pretending to be a fire truck as he dreamt of one day becoming a fireman or paramedic.

Instead the boy grew up and joined the U.S. Army after graduating from Cactus High School in Glendale. On Saturday,Staff Sgt. Staats, 30, was killed during a mounted patrol outside of Baghdad.

His death brings to 83 the number of Arizonans killed in Iraq.

Staats was one of three soldiers who died after their Humvee struck a bomb, the U.S. Department of Defense says. The three were assigned to the First Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas.

Staats was only a little over two weeks into his third tour of Iraq when he was fatally injured, said his mother, Wanda.

She and her husband, Roger, who spent 23 years in the Air Force and retired in 1985 at Luke Air Force Base, live in Peoria.

"David was a hero," she said. "He was doing what he thought he should do. He was trying to take care of business and make the world safe."

Wanda and Roger Staats learned of their only son's death on Saturday. Army personnel broke the news to David's 8-year-old son, Tyler who lives in Glendale with David's ex-wife.

"He was an amazing man," said David Staats' sister Bethany. "He was military first but he loved that little boy. That little boy idolized that man. He was his hero and still is his hero."

Bethany said the news hasn't really hit home yet with Tyler but that her 13-year-old daughter, Hayley was devastated by her uncle's death.

"He was her godfather," she said. "She is taking it tough. My brother helped me raise her for the first three years."

Bethany has written a tribute to her brother, which can be seen at www.myspace.com/peachy31.

Although David and Tyler's mom had divorced, father and son communicated with each other weekly.

Tyler spent 10 days with him in Texas just before David recently returned to Iraq, Wanda said.

David was born in Portsmouth, Va., and his family moved to the Valley in 1981. He played football at Cactus High School and served in the Reserve Officer Training Corps there.

"That was his first training with the military. He loved that," said his mother. "He went into the service, thinking this was his job and that is what he wanted to do."

David's funeral is to take place in Colorado Springs, where his second wife formerly lived. The Staats won't be making the trip due to Roger's health problems. Instead the couple is planning a memorial service Jan. 6. The time and location has not been decided.

David's death is especially hard for Wanda and Roger, who were estranged from their son for three years due to family conflicts.

Asked what she would say to her son if she had a chance to give him a last message, his mother replied:

"We love you and we are proud of you."

From the Republic