PROVIDENCE -- He had traveled to Baghdad thousands of miles away from this city block on the South Side, where he'd grown up with his family in an apartment house on a closely packed side street.

Sgt. Moises Jazmin was barely 25, a young man from a large family in the inner city, who left Central High School before graduation and joined the Army before he was old enough to vote.

Yesterday morning, the Pentagon confirmed that Jazmin was one of four soldiers who died Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near their military vehicle in an Iraqi village called Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Army officials told his family about his death Monday morning. His mother took to her bed in despair, one sister said. The rest of Jazmin's family -- his four sisters and three brothers -- are reeling from the news and awaiting the return of his body.

"I don't know that we'll ever recover from this," said Ruth Jazmin, 30, one of his sisters.

Jazmin was only 17 when he told his family that high school wasn't for him. He wanted to join the Army, Ruth Jazmin said. The family wasn't happy and urged him to stay in school. But he pushed the matter, until his parents reluctantly agreed to give him permission, she said.

The military changed him, she said, molding him into a more disciplined young man. He was last stationed in Texas, in the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, of Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division, when he was ordered to go to Iraq. He left after Thanksgiving last year.

His family worried about him and kept tabs on news of the war, his sister said, but they never knew for sure how dangerous it was for him.

When he returned last monthfor a two-week visit, he seemed different. He'd just turned 25 in July. He was calmer, more mature, and not eager to talk about the war, Ruth Jazmin said. Instead of seeking out his friends, Jazmin wanted to spend all of his time with his family, she said. It was as if he was trying to soak in their presence for as long as he could.

Moises Jazmin, the youngest of the Jazmin sons, did odd jobs around the house on Houston Street, off busy Broad Street, helped to clean up the yard, and spent time talking with members of his family, who live in South Providence and North Providence. "We really bonded," Ruth Jazmin said.

Jazmin left for Iraq Aug. 12, but he continued to stay in touch by e-mailing and calling home. He had three months left on his tour in Iraq, his sister said.

He last spoke to his family the night before he died. "He said he was going out on patrol and not to worry," Ruth Jazmin said.

Jazmin was in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when a road mine exploded Sunday. Three other soldiers were also killed: Spc. Qixing Lee, 20, of Minneapolis; Spc. Shaun Novak, 21, of Two Rivers, Wis.; and Spc. Tristan C. Smith, 23, of Bryn Athyn, Pa.

At 25, Jazmin was the oldest of the dead.

Yesterday, Governor Carcieri ordered state flags lowered to half-staff to honor Jazmin, who is the 10th Rhode Islander killed in the Iraq war.

"This is a terribly sad day for the family of Sgt. Moises Jazmin and for all Rhode Islanders," Carcieri said in a statement yesterday. "As a community, we are thankful for the sacrifices that soldiers like Sgt. Jazmin make in fighting for our state and our nation. Like the other Rhode Island soldiers who lost their lives since Sept. 11, Sgt. Jazmin was a patriot and a hero, and he will be missed."

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy both offered their sympathies.

"Like others before him, Sgt. Jazmin made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, giving his life, and we are all in his debt," Reed said in a statement yesterday. "My thoughts and prayers are with his family and all of our brave Marines and soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"Like others before him, Sgt. Jazmin answered the call and sacrificed himself for his fellow countrymen, and we are all in his debt," Kennedy also stated. ". . . We must always honor and respect the sacrifices our military men and women and their families make every day so that we can live in a free and great democracy."

But Ruth Jazmin wondered when the sacrifices would end.

In everything, she said, there is a beginning and an end. President Bush had a plan to begin the war, she said, but he has never told the country about the end.

"As a president, he's not doing his job," Ruth Jazmin railed on the phone, before hanging up. "When I see soldiers dying out there, where's the ending? When's the end coming for this war? Are you just going to let everybody get wiped out? What's the plan?"

amilkovi@projo.com / (401) 277-7213

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