PORTLAND – A Thomaston native who served with the Marines in Afghanistan and later joined the Army and was sent to Iraq was killed on Veterans Day by a roadside bomb in Ramadi.

Sgt. William Samuel Jackson II, a 29-year-old father of four, had been in Iraq since the beginning of the year but had come home in April to visit his family at their home in Michigan after the birth of his first daughter.

“He loved his kids and he loved his wife but he also loved being a soldier,” said Michael Reed, who was principal of Calvary Family School in Warren when Jackson graduated in 1995.

Jackson, whom everyone referred to as “Jack,” met his future wife while both were attending Northland Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin. Both joined the military, Reed said.

With a growing family, Jackson left the service after his 18-month tour in Afghanistan and was thinking about returning to college to study marine biology, Reed recalled. “The next thing I knew, he decided to join the Army,” he said.

Reed remembered Jackson as “a quiet person who almost always had a smile. He was serious, yet had a good sense of humor.”

Jackson’s parents were notified of his death while they were in the Dominican Republic on a business trip.

The governor and members of Maine’s congressional delegation issued statements expressing condolences to Jackson’s family.

“Sgt. Jackson’s sacrifice serves as a reminder of the constant danger faced by our troops overseas. We must never forget the sacrifices they and their families make on our behalf,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Allen.

Funeral arrangements were not available Monday.