March 25, 2008 Maine Army Private leaves behind his high-school sweetheart Play video

(NECN: Bethel, Maine) - 22-year-old Army Private Tyler Smith from Bethel, Maine died on Friday outside of Baghdad. Smith was the 31st soldier with ties to Maine to die in Iraq.

NECN's Amy Sinclair has the story.

Script:

Like many small Maine towns, businesses on Bethel's main street fly the American flag and let the troops know right where they stand. But at the local high school, the flag was at half-staff Tuesday, in honor of 2004 graduate Tyler Jacob Smith who died after an attack on his base in Baghdad.

Charlie: "He was a great guy, a strong kid, wonderful young man."

Word of the soldier's death hit particularly hard here at Telstar High, because Smith's young widow, Heather Bolstridge, was also his high school sweetheart. The school's guidance counselor remembers Smith as a kid who always preferred shop class to Shakespeare.

Charlie: "He excelled in industrial arts and could even teach, because he worked with his dad."

And Smith, who loved everything about cars, often showed up at the auto repair shop near his house to see what Jeff was working on.

Jeff: "He was a pretty curious kid...he wanted to learn and be good at what he did."

He wasn't surprised that Smith used his natural talents to become a combat engineer in the Army.

The 4,000 deaths in Iraq made headlines around the world over the weekend, and in this Maine town, it also raised questions about the high cost of war.

At the

Marshall: "He was the first one to die that I knew personally - it hit home."

While many in this town, have friends and relatives serving in Iraq, patience is wearing thin.