HAMMOND | A 24-year-old Hammond soldier was killed Friday in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Army Spc. Joseph M. Hernandez, a 2003 graduate of Mount Carmel High School, died in Zabul province after the device detonated near his vehicle in Jaldak. Two other men died in the incident. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment in Hohenfels, Germany, according to the Department of Defense.

Hernandez's family remembers him as a man who loved to rebuild cars, build model planes, fish, box, play piano, play guitar and sing. When one of his nieces was an infant, his gentle rocking was the only thing that would soothe her, his mother, Elva Hernandez, said.

He played soccer in high school, was an altar server and cantor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church and considered joining the priesthood. He always knew he wanted a big family, his mother said.

"He just had a special heart," she said.

His wife, Alison Hernandez, 22, said she felt on Friday as though bad news was on the way. The couple lived in Germany, but when her husband temporarily was deployed to Afghanistan, she brought their sons, Jacob and Noah, home to Indiana for the holidays.

Friday, she was waiting for his usual, "I'm back," message on the Internet. It didn't come. That day, a military official and chaplain walked up the driveway.

"I just kept saying, 'Why are you here? Just tell me he's injured,' " she said.

But their message was the one she dreaded. Her husband, the father of her children, was dead.

The young couple met when they were in high school. With Alison Hernandez at Gavit High School and Joseph Hernandez at Mount Carmel, the two began talking online. At the same time, Alison Hernandez had a crush on a boy who worked at the local video store. It turned out that Joseph Hernandez, who worked at the video store, was the same boy she had been talking to online for a month.

They went sledding with another couple and had their first date at the movie theater a week later. Alison Hernandez kept turning her head when Joseph Hernandez tried to kiss her on the first date. She finally gave in. The two kissed and were nearly inseparable ever since, even though Joseph Hernandez was a White Sox fan and Alison Hernandez cheered for the Cubs.

As the months passed, Joseph headed to Holy Cross and then Purdue University in West Lafayette for school, where he studied to be a veterinarian. Alison Hernandez joined him in Lafayette. They broke up for a little while and got back together.

In April 2005, he joined the Army. Through letters, they fell more in love and talked about marriage. They conceived a son and got married.

Joseph Hernandez was assigned to the Old Guard, where he served at funeral ceremonies in Arlington National Cemetery. The couple moved to Germany in January 2008, when Joseph Hernandez re-enlisted.

"Joseph wanted to do something greater," Alison Hernandez said. "He wanted to be deployed at some point."

In April, she gave birth to their second son, Noah.

The children are helping the family cope with the death.

"As sad as all of this is, we're grateful that we have Jacob and Noah," Elva Hernandez said. "It's almost as if Joseph left us this gift."

Aside from his wife, sons and mother, Joseph Hernandez also is survived by his father, Jessie Hernandez, brothers Jesse and Jason Hernandez and numerous other relatives.

Funeral arrangements are pending.