The war in Iraq hit Hayden Hatch's home in Clinton hard when he found out his close friend had been killed in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudais, 23, and two other U.S. Army Rangers died when a car exploded at a checkpoint near the Haditha Dam, 80 miles east of the Syrian border. The driver of the car and a pregnant woman also were killed in the apparent suicide attack Thursday.
Livaudais was the second Utah soldier killed in the war, and another soldier with Utah ties, Sgt. 1st Class Randall S. Rehn, died Thursday in fighting near Saddam International Airport.
Livaudais is survived by his pregnant wife, Jackie, who grew up in the Clinton area, and their two children, Destre and Carson. Livaudais was assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Benning, Ga.
Word of his death came to Hayden's house when Jackie Livaudais called, saying it hadn't been a good day and that she had bad news.
"I was in shock," Hayden said. "I was lost for words. I had a hard time talking."
Hayden and Livaudais met at Syracuse Junior High School. The two quickly became close friends and both enjoyed hunting. They graduated from Clearfield High School in 1997.
Hayden's wife, Jennifer, also knew Livaudais. She described him generally as a happy, excited person who was full of life.
"Out of the thousands of troops over there," she said, "the one I happen to know dies. I'm amazed by it — I'm totally shocked."
Hayden Hatch described Livaudais as smart and determined, someone who "wanted to be somebody." Part of Livaudais' goal with the military was to further his studies. "I totally support the war," Hatch said. "I'm proud of who he was and the friendship I had with him. He was a great guy. I loved him like a brother."
Livaudais' wife and other family members were not ready to talk with the media Saturday, though his wife did tell the Deseret News she was proud of her husband's military service during a brief phone conversation from her home in Fort Mitchell, Ala.
Livaudais was born April 30, 1979, in Olongapo, Philippines, and later moved to Syracuse, Davis County. In 1998, he volunteered in the Army's Delayed Entry Program. He graduated from Airborne School at Fort Benning in June 1998 and was assigned to the Rangers the following month.
Livaudais' Army awards and decorations are many: a Good Conduct Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, three Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, three Army Achievement Medals, the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab. He also was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor and the Purple Heart. Livaudais also served time in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Meanwhile, Rehn, 36, a former Utahn, died while fighting with the C Battery, 3rd Battalion, 13th Field Artillery Regiment. Rehn worked as an active duty recruiter at the South Salt Lake Recruiting Station from September 1999 to June 2002. He lived most recently in Longmont, Colo., and is survived by a wife and child.
News of Rehn's death also left his Utah associates with heavy hearts.
"I was saddened, very sad," said Sgt. 1st Class Brad Wilkinson, a recruiter for the Army National Guard who worked alongside Rehn at area high schools. "I'm sad to hear when anybody goes down."
Wilkinson said Rehn was not pushy and was always cheerful.
"He really related to the young people well," Wilkinson said. "He understood their lingo a little better than I did."
Rehn spent time speaking with students at Granite High School.
He had been stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., and lived near the base with his wife and 7-month-old daughter, said his brother Joe Rehn. He described his brother as a prankster who loved to golf and hunt.
"He was very outgoing, a joker and was always looking for somebody to play a practical joke on," Joe Rehn said.
Randall Rehn, who joined the Army in 1987, was in an artillery unit attached to the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, his family said.
"He was over there for the right reasons — to fight terrorism and make it a safer place for people to live in," Joe Rehn said.
Marine reservist and Salt Lake police officer James W. Cawley, 41, Layton, was Utah's first soldier killed in the war. He died March 29 during a firefight near Nasiriyah, Iraq. Cawley, a staff sergeant with Company F of the 2nd Battalion 23rd Regiment Marines, was killed when he was struck by a coalition forces' Humvee as he sought a secure position out of the line of enemy fire. Cawley served in the police department's gang unit and SWAT team.
Contributing: Associated Press
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com