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Samantha Hayes reportingDuty to country claims the life of a Utah soldier. Today his family speaks about the man they knew and loved.
Staff Sergeant Clint Ferrin and two other soldiers died in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded under their Humvee this weekend.
Samantha Hayes spent the afternoon with his family in Ogden.
When we hear of this happening nearly everyday it becomes difficult to put a face on yet another number-- the sixth Utah soldier to die-- one of 564 American soldiers who won't come back.
The bigger picture is 31-year-old Clint Ferrin was a decorated soldier. He was also a beloved husband, father, brother and son.
This is the kind of scene you hope to only experience from a distance-- neighbors bringing food and condolences to a family that is no longer whole.
John Ferrin/ Younger Brother: "She says, 'It's Clint." And 'No." And she says Clint's been killed, and she began to gasp in tears. I just said, 'It's going to be okay. We are going to see him again. It's going to be alright.'"
Staff Sargeant Clint Ferrin joined the Army when he was 19 and became one of the elite-- a member of the 82nd Airborne Armored Division.
John: "He wasn't just a man who signed a contract and raised his arm up and said, 'I'll go wherever the country sends me.' But he loved it and he loved the people, and he was just a good man."
A man who loved to fish with his son, throw his 3-year-old daughter up in the air, and be a husband to Melinda, his wife of nearly 10 years.
John: "They hadn't had a Christmas picture together in two years, and then they had this one..."
Sargeant Clint Farrin was especially close to his grandfather, a World War II veteran. In fact, it was his wish that in the event of his death he be buried next to him in Ben Lomand cemetery.
John: "Even before he joined the military he was always our hero."
A memorial service is tentatively scheduled at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Thursday. Burial is planned in Utah once his body is returned.
His family was expecting him home for leave in just a few weeks.
