It was a horrific blast, soldiers said. Three men on the truck died instantly, and four others were critically injured, including Cpl. Kevin S. Mowl.

The 22-year-old from Pittsford, N.Y., was evacuated to the United States and fought to recover from a traumatic brain injury and other wounds at Bethesda Naval Medical Center.

But the injuries proved too much. Although his family expressed opti- mism about his recovery in their Web diary, Mowl suffered a reversal and died Feb. 25 of septic shock following one of many surgeries he endured.

His unit, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, gathered for a memorial ceremony Friday at the new North Fort Lewis Chapel, along with his parents, Harold and Mary, and sister Carlene, from New York.

“We visited Kevin here at the base about three times before he was deployed into Iraq,” said Harold Mowl, speaking through a sign-language interpreter.

“We have many good memories of him while we visited here,” he said, “and we have very good memories of our lives with him.”

Mowl is the superintendent of the Rochester, N.Y., School for the Deaf, where the soldier was a beloved visitor during midtour leave last year. Growing up as the hearing son of deaf parents, he knew sign language and told students at the school about his travels and experiences in the Army.

He might have followed his parents into education when he completed his term of enlistment in the Army, his father said.

“He was thinking about going back to teaching, or getting into some area where he could help with world peace and conflict resolution,” Mowl said. “He was thinking about both of those options, but either way he probably would have gone back to school.”

The Aug. 2 blast in Baghdad was as devastating as nearly any attack the Strykers of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division endured in their 15-month deployment in Iraq. The brigade returned home last October.

The blast tore off the back of the vehicle and blew soldiers from their hatches, said Capt. Phil Schneider, who was the platoon leader then.

The explosion knocked him unconscious, but he came to in a few moments and with others began the urgent task of helping the other wounded.

“It was bad,” Schneider said after Friday’s ceremony.

The squad leader, Staff Sgt. Fernando Santos, 29, and two other soldiers – Spc. Cristian Rojas-Gallego, 24, and Spc. Eric D. Salinas, 25 – all died at the scene.

In addition to Mowl, three others were critically wounded – one lost a foot – and all three continue to undergo medical care today in their recovery, Schneider said.

Mowl, who graduated from the Valley Forge Military Academy and then joined the Army, served as a Stryker driver, a squad-automatic rifleman and as his platoon’s radio-telephone operator.

His platoon relied on him to watch their backs, to be in the right place at the right time, said Capt. Jonathan Fursman, his company commander.

“His individual service to our unit made the team work, and because the team worked we were able to accomplish our little bit of good in a tough fight,” Fursman said.

“The momentum that Corporal Mowl helped to start in Iraq continues today. His service and sacrifice is the foundation of our current success.”

Spc. Michael Williams said Mowl “was a leader, even though he did not hold a leadership role. He was the type of soldier you strived to be like.”

Staff Sgt. Kenneth Hoffman said Mowl was good at his duties and a willing conspirator in pranks on his fellow soldiers. He was likewise a good sport when the pranks were at his expense.

“He was an intellectual free-thinker, eager to laugh and share laughter,” Hoffman said. “He was a man who believed in right and wrong; he was a man who believed in equality and respect. … He was a loyal friend … a loving brother and son.”

Michael Gilbert: 253-597-892