Gene L. Lamie dies 'of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle'

Sgt. Gene L. Lamie, 25, of Homerville was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle south of Baghdad on Friday.

From her family home in Homerville on Tuesday, Linda Lamie remembered her son as the "funniest guy in the world who could make you laugh at the worst possible times."

The Army team leader had married his wife, Dara, in August. On his second combat tour, he regretted missing out on his 8-month-old son Gene Benjamin's milestones, Lamie said.

"He missed that baby," she said. "He was worried about him learning to walk without being there. He said there are things you just can't make up in life. They learn so much so fast at that age."

The avid Nascar fan would dress Gene Benjamin up in a Tony Stewart T-shirt on race days, and jokingly teach his young son to cast a fishing line, Lamie said. He also had a 3-year-old daughter, Lyrean, from a previous marriage.

Lamie said her son, who joined the Army in 2000, didn't want to leave his family a second time for Iraq. His desire to serve and selfless nature, however, carried him through.

"He hated leaving his wife and children," she said. "But he had a strong sense of responsibility for the young men under him. He once told me it didn't matter if he came home, just as long as those boys under him did."

In addition to his wife, children and mother, Lamie is survived by his father, Eugene, sister, Christy, and brother, John, a Georgia National Guardsmen who has also served in Iraq.

From the Savannah Morning News