EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) -- A Metro East soldier killed last month in Iraq is remembered as a man who loved children, his family, music and country.

Services were held Tuesday in East St. Louis for 22-year-old U.S. Army Private First Class Jamel Bryant.

Bryant was killed Sept. 27 in a vehicle accident while on patrol in Iraq.

Bryant was part of the 40th Engineer Battalion in the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Baumholder, Germany.

Bryant's mother has said her son taught himself to play the piano and joined the Army to change his life for the better.

Before his death, he promised recently to take her to "The Price is Right" and Paris if she lost 20 pounds.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)