Soldier From Glen Burnie Killed by Bomb in Iraq

An infantryman from Glen Burnie was among three soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who died after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Tuesday, the Defense Department said yesterday.

Spec. Micheal B. Matlock Jr., 21, died Wednesday of his wounds, as did Sgt. Conrad Alvarez, 22, of Big Spring, Tex., and Cpl. Albert Bitton, 20, of Chicago, the military said in a statement. The three men belonged to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, according to a statement issued by the public affairs office at Fort Campbell, Ky., where the 101st Airborne is based.

Matlock's death cut short a life moving in the right direction, his mother said. Sheena Douglas and her fiance, Theodore Blandford, recalled yesterday that Matlock, a graduate of Glen Burnie High School who was fond of bowling and dancing, had gone through "a few little rough spots" and worked in some minimum-wage jobs but showed increasing seriousness.

"He was changing, he was growing up, he was becoming a good man like I wanted to see him," Douglas said.

Blandford said the key to the change was Matlock's love of his wife, Breon, and the birth of his son, Byron, who is now 1. Looking to support his new family and encouraged by a cousin who is in the Army, Matlock enlisted in August 2006. Douglas said she thought it was a good decision that would keep him off the streets.

Matlock's family was on his mind when he last talked to his mother by phone on Feb. 10.

"We talked about him and his wife, and he missed her, and he missed his son," Douglas said.

"All was seemingly well," Blandford said.

On Matlock's MySpace page, someone had posthumously changed his profile to read: "God wanted his angel back!!" Matlock's mood was listed as "peaceful."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.