Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson

Master Sgt.

Richard L. Ferguson

45, of Conway, N.H.,

died March 30

in Somara, Iraq

Survivors include his

Wife and Sons, 4, 8 and 10

Daughter 23

Master Sgt. Ferguson, 45, with the Army's Special Forces unit at Fort Carson, Colo., had served in Bosnia, Germany, Iraq and elsewhere, but his missions and deployments were often kept secret.

"What went on, he left at work or with the guys," said his father, Lee Ferguson Sr. "When he came home, he laughed, he joked, he went camping with the kids, he went on trips, he worked around the house."

Ferguson, a native of Coventry, R.I., who lived in Woodland Park, Colo., died March 30, 2004, in Samarra, Iraq, after the military vehicle he was riding in rolled over.

He joined the Army, becoming a career military man. "Once he got in, he loved it and he stayed with it. That was his home," he father said.

Master Sgt.

Richard L. Ferguson

and his wife

Marianne Wolff Ferguson

are shown in this

1990 family photo.

He was also a history buff, and spent 20 years putting together a family tree tracing his roots back to the 1700s, the family said.

Lee F. Ferguson Jr., left, brother of Army Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson, reminisces about family history with his daughter Becky at the family home in Coventry. Richard Ferguson was killed in Iraq on Tuesday when his Humvee overturned.

Journal photo / Bob Thayer

In his early days in the Army, Ferguson, 46, who grew up in Coventry and had been stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., had premonitions about his death. He'd wake up in a cold sweat after bad dreams, his brother, Lee F. Ferguson Jr., said yesterday.

Master Sgt.

Richard Ferguson

a career military man

and member of the

10th Special Forces

since he was a teenager,

had come

to terms with the

danger of the job

he loved so much.

On Tuesday, he was killed in Samarra, Iraq, after the Humvee he was riding in flipped over. Ferguson was a passenger in the vehicle, and two other soldiers suffered minor injuries in the accident, according to Maj. Robert E. Gowan, a spokesman for the Army's Special Forces Command.

The incident was characterized as nonhostile, according to Shari Lawrence, deputy public affairs officer for U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va. More details on the accident, which is still under investigation, were unavailable.

Ferguson's Rhode Island family members, including his brother and father, Lee F. Ferguson Sr., learned Wednesday of Richard's death and yesterday they remembered him for his dedication and bravery.

"He was strong-willed," his father said yesterday. "Once he got in, he loved it and he stayed with it. That was his home."

Despite being a member of an elite military force, Ferguson was humble, more often found in fatigues than in his dress uniform. He turned down a promotion that would have taken him out of the field, his father said.

"He wasn't a person to stand out there and say, 'Look what I did,' " his father said. "He liked being in the field. He was behind the scenes. He was a team leader."

Ferguson had served in Bosnia, Germany, Iraq and other nations, but his missions -- and often his deployments -- remained secret.

Lee Ferguson would sometimes spot his son on television, recognizing Richard by the way he walked or moved his hand or held a cigarette.

JoAnn E. Philips, of Coventry, facing the camera, says goodbye to Bonnie Jervis, of Coventry, yesterday at the Ferguson family home. Philips is the sister of Richard L. Ferguson, killed in an accident in Iraq tuesday. Jervis is their cousin.

Journal photo / Bob Thayer