Staff Sgt. Omer T. Hawkins II of Cherry Fork, a tiny town in northwest Adams County, about 60 miles east of Cincinnati, died along with two other soldiers Thursday, the Defense Department announced Monday.

Hawkins was a noncommissioned officer in the regular Army, assigned to the 44th Engineer Battalion stationed at Camp Howze in Korea.

"He was a great guy," said his sister, Cherry Frederick, 33, of Cincinnati's West Side. "He was doing what he loved and what he believed in."

Hawkins graduated in 1991 from North Adams High School on a Friday and enlisted in the Army the following Monday.

"The only thing that he ever wanted to do was go in the military," his sister said.

Records at North Adams High School near Seaman show a student popular with his peers and solid academically. He was voted "most likely to succeed" in his graduating class and was active in academic competitions in the areas of citizenship and Ohio history. Hawkins had been on the high school's debate team and played baseball.

Dawn Fowler of West Union became best friends with his sister, Cherry, while they were students at North Adams High School. Hawkins was like a little brother to her.

"He was one of those kids who would do anything for anybody," Fowler said. "He was very polite. Very intelligent."

Hawkins never married and had no children, his sister said.

His brother, Sgt. James Hawkins, 30, is in the Missouri National Guard. Their father, the late William Hawkins, had been an engineer with the Marines. He died at age 32 in 1977 of a brain aneurysm, his daughter said.

Army officials have told the family to expect the return of the soldier's body as early as Friday.

He is to be buried next to his father in Locust Grove Cemetery in Peebles.

Hawkins was the sixth Cincinnati area soldier to die in Iraq. The others are:

• Pfc. Marlin Rockhold, 23, of Hamilton, killed by a sniper in Baghdad in May 2003.

• Army Sgt. Chad Keith, 21, of Batesville, Ind., killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad in July 2003.

• Army Spc. James Christopher Wright, 27, of Delhi Township, killed in a firefight near Tikrit in September 2003.

• Army Sgt. Stephen Conover, 21, of Wilmington, killed along with 15 others in a Chinook helicopter downed by a missile in November 2003.

• Army Sgt. Charles Kisser, 37, formerly of Amelia, killed June 24 outside Mosul.

Enquirer reporter Cindy Kranz and the Associated Press contributed. E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com