A soldier who spent most of his days in Iraq kicking down doors looking for insurgents became the 15th Utahn to die in the line of duty.

Maj. Chris Belcher, public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division, said four soldiers died Wednesday while on routine combat patrol, but he would not release any names of the soldiers. The Deseret Morning News learned Staff Sgt. Gregson Glenn Gourley, a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division, died when a roadside improvised explosive device exploded near his Humvee.

The Midvale native, 38, and three of his comrades died in the blast near Hawijah, Iraq.

"He was assigned to some of the most dangerous missions you can have," said his father, Jerome Gourley. "But it's what he wanted to do."

He spent nearly 17 years in the service of his country but rarely talked about it with his father, who also served in the military and retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Army.

"When you've been there, done that, you're very slow to talk about it," he said. "We never talked about the Army."

However, when Jerome Gourley last talked to his son on a call from Iraq, he said Greg told him that the Iraqis he met during various missions were receptive to their efforts. "He said they were very grateful for what the allied forces were trying to accomplish."

Greg Gourley graduated from Hillcrest High School and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Pennsylvania. When he returned, he married and later joined the Utah National Guard, enticed by the educational assistance he would receive and because he wanted to serve his country, his father said.

Greg always had a sense of civic duty and had discussed the risks of re-enlistment with his wife, his father said, adding that his son knew the risks associated with serving his country but was willing to embrace those.

"It's a high price to pay," Jerome Gourley said. "And you plead with the Lord every night to keep watch over your children. Every night."

The retired military man had numerous photos of his son displayed for the media throughout his living room and spoke with pride about his son's accomplishments.

He said Greg had aspirations to go into law enforcement. He received two associate degrees from Salt Lake Community College and studied to receive a license to work as a private detective.

He was stationed in Louisiana, participated in a tour in Italy and had since spent about five years in Kentucky, near Fort Campbell, with his family. He received several commendations and "had a chest full of ribbons," his father said.