Marine Was a Bomb Specialist

Soldier Was Honored for 'Courage in the Face of Death'

Among the deadliest hazards faced by U.S. forces in Iraq are roadside bombs, and one of the military specialists assigned to detect, defuse and destroy them was a Marine staff sergeant from Baltimore named Dwayne E. Williams.

"He was good at what he did," an uncle, Notre D. Williams, said last night. "He was just blessed with that skill." He had won the bronze star, and in recommending him for it, superiors cited his calmness and determination, his heroism and his constant "courage in the face of death."

On Thursday, Williams, 28, was killed "while conducting combat operations" in Iraq's Anbar province, according to the Pentagon. No further details were available. His uncle said he was certain that Williams died while trying to defuse a bomb.

"This is a demanding job," it said on the Williams family Web site. "And Dwayne says he loves it."

In a message he sent to his family in May 2005, Williams described a day at work: "We were out on a Improvised Explosive Device (IED) call. . . . We were tasked to dispose of this device so this road could be continued to be used. We arrived and did our thing.

"But once we approached to verify everything was safe and to take pictures for intelligence, I found another device set as a trap for us, I yelled IED so others could run. I dove on the item and analyzed the initiation system and disabled [it] by hand while others took cover." He said he knew he had to work quickly before whoever planted the bomb could set it off remotely. It was the second time he had succeeded at such a task. "The Lord Is good," he told his family in the message.

When he was killed, he was on his third deployment. Disarming IEDs is "a job that needs to be done," he told a Marine publication. "It's an honor to be out here, doing what we do."

The uncle said Williams was to return to the United States in a month. He also said members of the Williams family had served in the military beginning with World War I. The family Web site shows pictures of the sergeant and two other Williamses who it said also served in the Marines in Iraq.

"This is the first one we've ever lost," the uncle said.

He said Williams -- an only child who left a mother and stepfather in Baltimore -- had a wife and 4-year-old son in Warrenton, N.C.

The uncle said he had recently been more concerned about his nephew, because in the past few months Williams had been wounded twice, suffering a concussion and getting shrapnel in his left arm.

He said Williams called his mother every day and corresponded regularly by e-mail.

Williams supervised and led other Marines and taught his specialty to coalition forces. According to the Marines, Williams planned to study for a college degree in criminal justice.

He was assigned to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, Japan.