Army Spc. Jeremiah Hughes left for Iraq in December with Hawai'i's Stryker brigade, three years after a previous tour and more than familiar with the difficulties of being in war and away from home.

"I'm gonna hate being away from my wife for over a year," the 26-year-old said on his MySpace page just before he deployed. "And I'm gonna hate not being able to spend time with her, or my friends, or my dogs. I'm really gonna dislike not being able to drink every once in a while when I get irritated by the things around me. And then of course, I can't say that I'm gonna be too fond of people shooting at me again, or trying to blow me up again, or any of that stupid stuff."

The Pentagon announced yesterday that Hughes, of Jacksonville, Fla., died Wednesday in Balad, Iraq, from injuries sustained in a noncombat incident in Abu Ghraib.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment "Gimlets" at Schofield Barracks.

The Pentagon did not provide details of what happened to Hughes and said the incident is under investigation.

TV station News4Jax in Jacksonville said Hughes graduated from high school in 1999. Friends knew he would go into the military. He had been a four-year participant in the school's ROTC program.

Teachers remembered Hughes, who went by "Jere," as a well-read and thoughtful student.

"It was wonderful to teach to him. You looked for him a lot because his eyes lit up as you were speaking and you could tell he was interested in intellectual things," English teacher Linda Cugini told News4Jax.

Hughes, who joined the Army in July 1999 and was assigned to Schofield Barracks in January of 2000, said on his MySpace page that he wasn't fond of living on the "rock," as he called Hawai'i.

The TV show "24" was a favorite, and he said he "read just about anything, especially history and fantasy." Among those interests were books on warfare.

His wife, Angie, said on her MySpace page that she had moved back to Jacksonville to be with family after her husband deployed.

Seven Schofield soldiers have died in Iraq since the Stryker brigade deployed on a 15-month tour in November and December.

Spc. Gregory B. Rundell, 21, of Ramsey, Minn., was the most recent fatality before Hughes. Rundell died March 26 in Taji of wounds suffered from small-arms fire as he was manning a guard tower at an outlying "joint security station" with Iraqi forces. Rundell was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry "Wolfhounds."

More than 4,000 Hawai'i soldiers are in Iraq with the Stryker brigade.