JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa soldier killed in a weekend attack along Iraq's border with Syria was a member of a convoy hit by rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire, Iowa National Guard officials said Monday.

Spc. Aaron Sissel, 22, of Tipton, was one of two soldiers killed Saturday afternoon when his cargo truck was ambushed near Husaybah, about 80 miles from the Syrian border, according to Col. Bob King, Iowa Guard spokesman. The other was Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Bertolino, 40, of Orange, Calif., a member of Regimental Support Squardon, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Carson, Colo. A third soldier, also from Iowa, was injured.

Sissel was a member of the Iowa Guard's 2133rd Transportation Company, assigned to the Muscatine detachment.

Jo Sissel said in a telephone interview from her home in Tipton that her son was doing what he loved and felt he had a job to do.

"He's a wonderful kid. Great personality, loved people. He had me sign his papers when he was 17 so he could go into the Guard," she said.

Aaron Sissel enlisted Sept. 26, 1998, at the start of his senior year at Tipton Community High School.

"All his friends were in," his mother said. "What we have to say about Iraq was he would have been upset had he not been able to go."

One of Sissel's friends, Spc. Joe A. Gottschalk, 24, a 1998 graduate of Tipton High, was injured in the attack. He was taken to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. His condition was not immediately available, King said.

Jo Sissel said she last talked to her son on Thanksgiving Day.

"They didn't get turkey that day. They were tired, they were worn out," she said.

Jo Sissel said she had hoped her son would be back home by June.

"That's what we're hoping for the rest of the group," she said.

In addition to his mother, Sissel's survivors include his father and stepmother, Kirk and Cindy Sissel, and a sister, Shanna, all of Tipton.

Sissel's body will be brought back to Tipton. Funeral services are pending, King said.

The family issued a statement saying Sissel died "doing what he loved and believed in. We are very proud of him.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the family of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldier that died alongside Aaron in Iraq. We also ask for your continued prayers for Joe Gottschalk and his family," the statement said.

Sgt. Meredith Zinger, a soldier assigned to joint forces at Iowa National Guard headquarters at Camp Dodge, said she and Sissel met through friends in high school - she went to nearby Wilton High School while he went to Tipton.

She said Sissel was excited about going to Iraq when she last spoke to him, just before he was deployed in May.

"He wasn't scared," she said.

She said the deaths of Sissel and the other Iowans in Iraq brings the war closer to home.

"It's very hard," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm scared for the people over there, but it's what we do, it's our job."

Sissel wouldn't have had any regrets giving his life for his country, she said.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said in a statement that he had spoken to Sissel's family "and it is clear that during his young life, he touched the lives of many and was an inspiration to those who knew and loved him."

Sissel was the ninth Iowa soldier to die in military operations in Iraq.