When Dan Dolan was growing up he played a lot of hockey. "He played a little football in junior high," she added. He went at all activities full-bore, according to Fay Dolan.

She said military officials told her Dan was killed in an ambush.

At first, family members thought the Stryker had turned over, because they could not understand why he would be outside the heavily armored vehicle. But now she speculates he got out to help fellow soldiers. "He could see that it was a big firefight, and he had to get out to help," she said.

Jim Andrus, Fruit Heights, Dan Dolan's uncle, hugged his sister Fay. "He was the best nephew anyone could have ever had," he told the Deseret Morning News.

"He was a very loving kid who was very rambunctious about everything he did." He was dedicated to his country and to his parents. He "always stayed out of trouble" and earned good grades.

"Just a really good kid," Andrus said.

Stationed overseas, Dan Dolan would talk to his relatives on the telephone all the time, he said. "He loved his job" driving Strykers, he said. "It was supposed to be the safest vehicle. ... It had impenetrable skin, it could stop a rocket-propelled grenade.

"It's unbelievable."

Kenny Hokanson, a marketing teacher at Roy High School, remembered Dan Dolan as a good student in his classes and a "good kid." Then he corrected himself, saying a good young man.

"He was a hockey player," he said in a telephone interview. "He was a typical teenager. He liked girls and cars and stuff like that."

In Dolan's senior year, Hokanson became aware of his interest in the military. "He thought it was a good deal to serve," he said.

The teacher told him that if he enlisted, he might be sent into active duty.

Dan Dolan said that was all right.

After basic training, he visited Hokanson. "He was ready to use the skills that he'd gained in basic," he recalled.

Candace Sallade, 19, who lives across the street from the Dolans and had known Dan since sixth grade, remembers that he was a good person with a soft heart.

Being a strong guy, he would give the impression that he was a tough, macho type, she said. "But, man, when his little sister would get picked on by any guys, that kid would drop anything he was doing and go get 'em, and be like, 'You go apologize to my sister right now."'

He would do the same for "any of us girls," she added.

She remembered that Dan Dolan loved to have fun and laugh, and have lots of friends around him. He was always willing to help others and teach people new things, she said. "He liked to be the one everybody depended on for something."

She was somewhat surprised when he joined the Army, Sallade said.

"But he always wanted to fight for his country, you know, and always wanted to be a hero," Sallade said, "and that's exactly what he is."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com