According to the Department of Defense, Sgt. Adam Plumondore, 22, of Gresham died Feb. 16 in Mosul, when a bomb detonated near his vehicle.

Plumondore, a former track, football and baseball athlete at Gresham High School, was based at Fort Lewis.

He is the 40th soldier with Oregon ties to be killed in the Iraq war.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has ordered that all flags at public institutions be flown at half-staff on Friday in Plumondore's honor.

"I am saddened to hear of yet another death of a young soldier from Oregon," the governor said in a statement released by his office.

KOMO's sister in Portland, KATU, reported that Plumondore had been interested in getting his pilot's license and becoming a police officer, and that he had been hoping to get permission to come home on a two-week leave in June.

"He had a lot of friends; he was a three-sport athlete, so he knew a lot of kids that crosses a lot of groups. He was friendly with everybody," Lonnie Wells, Plumondore's former track coach, told KATU News. "He was a good athlete, a good thrower for us."

A statement of grief from Plumondore's fellow soldiers was posted late Thursday on the Web site of the platoon.

It read, in part: "Sergeant Plumondore was a tremendous soldier, a respected leader, and a great friend. He was a man of great strength, unending talent, and deep compassion. His spirit will live on forever with the men here who loved him and served with him... we will never forget him."