The mother of a Schofield Barracks soldier killed by a mortar blast during training March 10 on the Big Island said she was told there was a malfunction and explosion as the weapon was fired.

Janie Edwards said soldiers close to her son, Staff Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez, 27, told her he was knocked down, but didn't realize at first he had been wounded severely in the side. He had a collapsed lung and died from blood loss on the way to the hospital, she said.

Another soldier's arms were severely injured, she said, and a third lost an eye. She was not sure what injuries were suffered by two other soldiers.

"My son didn't even realize he was hurt. They said he fell down and (soldiers) ran to him, and he said, 'No, I'm all right,' " Edwards told The Advertiser. "He got up and said, 'Go take care of everybody else,' and then he took two or three steps and he fell down."

They told her it was a rare type of weapon malfunction.

"That's what everybody is saying — that it's a one-in-a-million," Edwards said.

Oscar Rodriguez, an Iraq war veteran and father of a 5-month-old son, was buried March 20 in San Diego, Texas, next to his grandfather.

The Army previously only said that the fatality and injuries were the result of the explosion of an 81 mm mortar round during live-fire training at Pohakuloa Training Area.

The Hawai'i County Fire Department had said all the soldiers "sustained blast trauma due to accidental munitions malfunction."

"I still can't believe my baby's gone, but everything happens for a reason," said Edwards, who also lives in Texas. "That's all we can say — when God decides to take you, there's nothing that we can do about it. It still hurts. I just hope all the other ones make it through."

Rodriguez died the day before his 28th birthday. The Beeville, Texas, native was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry "Golden Dragons."

Rodriguez joined the Army in 1996. He served in Iraq for 13 months before being assigned to Hawai'i, and had been a mortarman since joining the Army, his mother said.

He wanted to be a drill sergeant and planned to make a career out of the Army.

"We're very proud of my son," Edwards said. "He did something that he loved, and he did it with passion. When your son is happy, you are happy."

The Combat Readiness Center out of Fort Rucker, Ala., and the Army's criminal investigative service, are looking into the explosion as part of separate investigations.

Schofield spokeswoman Stefanie Gardin yesterday said it's unclear when the investigation will be completed.

"They will take the time needed to do a thorough investigation," she said.

One of the injured soldiers was released March 14 from Tripler Army Medical Center. Three other soldiers are in stable condition. Officials said one of the soldiers within the past week was upgraded from critical to stable condition. A Tripler official said the soldiers opted not to be identified.

Although 7,000 Schofield Barracks soldiers are preparing for a summer deployment to Iraq, the battalion Rodriguez was with is not among those with deployment orders.

Edwards was told at the funeral what happened to her son by soldiers who were close to him in Hawai'i and elsewhere.

"I was out and about shopping when (Army officials) called on my cell phone and told me they needed to speak to me," she said. "All they told me was there had been an accident, it was under investigation, and that was it."

When the mortar round exploded, her son had his hands over his ears because of the noise associated with firing, and he was hit in the side, she said.

"They said that it was almost quitting time and he went to go check on his men," she said. "One of them was reloading and I think something went wrong and it exploded and it hit everybody."

Mortars are basically tubes braced on small metal plates on the ground that can shoot explosive projectiles in a high arc for a distance of several miles. A round is dropped into the tube, and a pin ignites an explosive charge at the base of the projectile to launch it.

"Short rounds" sometimes detonate prematurely after leaving the tube.

Rodriguez's unit, which was near the end of the exercise at the 109,000-acre training area, ceased all live fire when the accident occurred.

"But (live-fire) training in general has not been suspended at any particular time," said Schofield spokesman Kendrick Washington.

The last fatal training accident involving the Army at Pohakuloa occurred April 12, 2000, when a 21-year-old soldier was killed and four others were wounded when a "bangalore torpedo" used to clear concertina wire exploded.

The Army has not stated whether the accident was caused by malfunction or human error.

Edwards said she is taking the death of her youngest son day by day.

"I have my good days and my bad days," she said. Rodriguez's brother, Carlos, who is 32, "is taking it real hard."

Edwards said she is not upset the Army hasn't given her more information.

"No, I'm OK with that because the less I know, the better for me right now," she said. "His friends are saying he didn't know what hit him. He died with no pain. That's all we wanted to hear. He just went to sleep."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.