The Associated Press -- PAXINOS, Pa. (AP) -- An intelligence officer from eastern Pennsylvania, a 10-year Army veteran who planned to make it a career, died Monday of wounds from a bomb attack in Iraq.

Capt. Robert C. Scheetz Jr., 31, who served in Iraq for more than a year, was pronounced dead at 11:58 a.m. on Memorial Day in an Iraqi infirmary, defense officials told relatives.

"He was a lifer who really enjoyed the military," said Scheetz' father, Robert Scheetz Sr. "He was determined to become a general."

An Army officer came to the Scheetz' home in Shamokin Township, Northumberland County, on Tuesday and confirmed the death. Scheetz, a battalion intelligence officer with the 1st Armored Division, apparently was sleeping in a tent with members of his unit when an explosion destroyed a Humvee at their campsite Sunday, injuring Scheetz and killing another soldier.

Scheetz Sr. said Army officials didn't say exactly where the explosion occurred. He said his son had been stationed in Baumholder, Germany, before being deployed to Iraq in April 2003, and had served in Iraqi cities including Baghdad, An Nasiriyah and Fallujah.

At one point, Scheetz had been scheduled to return home on May 4, but his orders changed, extending his duty in Iraq by at least three months.

Scheetz was a University of Alabama graduate. He joined the Army in 1994, was a member of the special forces and had been stationed in Germany since 2001, his father said.

"He died doing what he believed in," said Joyce Scheetz. "Rob was very serious. He was a hard worker who was determined to be successful in life."

Though respecting his dedication, Scheetz' parents questioned the need to keep U.S. troops in Iraq. "We need to bring the servicemen and servicewomen home and let the Iraqis fight their own battles," Joyce Scheetz said.

Scheetz was a 1990 graduate of Shamokin Area High School, where Principal Eugene Boughner recalled him as a "wonderful kid," active in the jazz band, chess, Bible, speech and drama clubs and a performer in the school musical.

"Rob's death is another blow to the heart of the community," Boughner said. "It's very sad. You think it's not going to happen again. But it did."

A 1997 Shamokin Area High graduate, Sgt. Matthew J. Sandri, 24, died March 20 of injuries from a rocket attack in Fallujah, and Army Spc. Christopher K. Bingaman, 22, of Frackville, was killed April 26 in a helicopter crash during a training flight out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

Two Northumberland County natives, Staff Sgt. Michael B. Quinn, 37, a 1984 graduate of Line Mountain High School, and Army Spc. Zachariah Long, 20, from Milton, were killed in Iraq last year.

Scheetz is survived by his parents, two sisters, and his wife, Jennifer, who lives in Baumholder, Germany. Family members said his body was scheduled to be flown Thursday to Baumholder, where a memorial service was to be held, and after that to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.