With assistance from FOX8, Cleveland, OH

An Army soldier identified Wednesday by the Department of Defense as missing in action in Iraq had followed his older brother into military service. Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, a member of the 507th Maintenance Company of Fort Bliss, is one of 8 soldiers missing in action after an ambush Sunday. His brother, Army Reserve Master Sgt. Jack Dowdy Jr., 40, in Kaneohe, Hawaii, said family members are "torn up over the entire matter."

"I think primarily it's because we're not a military family other than myself," he said. Jack Dowdy said he went into the military, and then Robert followed a couple of years later and has been in service for 18 years. He is two years from retirement, his brother said.

"This is a major disaster for the family because nobody expected or had a clue it was going to happen," he said. Dowdy said his brother has a wife and teenage daughter in DeRidder, La. "That is probably the biggest joy in his life, was having a daughter," he said. Dowdy said he last heard from his brother, the third of four children, through e-mail.

"He was dedicated, of course, to the military wherever they sent him he automatically went," he said, adding his brother liked to run and had entered various racing events. "I can tell you that he is very patriotic and very loyal man who loved his country," said. "To my knowledge he just wanted to serve his country to the best of his ability before he retired." Neighbors who grew up with Dowdy in his parent's working-class neighborhood said Dowdy's disappearance brought the war closer to their lives. Many said he had visited each year. "It's a shame. It's terrible when it hits so close to home," said Jane Vachie, 64.

Jackie Rivera, 33, Vachie's daughter, recalled playing hide-and-seek with Dowdy as youngster. "He is a great guy, really, really great guy," she said.

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