Army Pfc. George Geer, 27, wanted to hear about the mountains of southwestern Colorado on Saturday, the last time he talked to his family before his death Monday in a bombing in Iraq.
He was supposed to come home for a visit next month.
"When he called home, he didn't want to talk about Iraq," his father, Harold Geer, said Tuesday. "He wanted to hear about home, and if there was snow in the high country. He wanted to go skiing."
Home is a modest house surrounded by 40 acres at the base of the vast Mesa Verde escarpment south of Cortez.
Home is the high country, the La Plata and San Juan mountains, now buried deep in new snow, where he loved to ski, ride horses and hunt elk with his family. He knew the name of every peak and all their elevations, his father says.
Home is under the hood of the 1968 Dodge Charger he was going to restore with his father.
"I just got the first box of parts," Harold says.
He had everything ready for his son's upcoming two-week leave.
On Tuesday, the Geers didn't yet have all the details of their son's death.
"The guy that came yesterday, the only thing he knew was what it said on his paper," Harold says. "It was a suicide bomber."
George was trying to decide whether he would have a military career or go to college to become a geography teacher. But he became the first resident of southwestern Colorado to die in this war in Iraq, although at least one other casualty had strong ties here.
George's big sister, Hope, is inconsolable.
But Harold and Lois Geer are determined to talk about the good times with their son, who was a fine man and the second son they've lost. Their 19-year- old son Chad died in a car accident in 1989.
The Geers sit at their kitchen table and try to pick at the fried chicken and strawberries left by friends and neighbors. Stacks of soda pop cartons crowd the floor. George's golden retriever, Spot, happily greets all the visitors to this quiet spot at the end of a remote country lane.
"We've been overrun with the food people brought," Harold says.
Lois mostly smiles and nods at her husband's descriptions of hunting with George and of his son's passion for cars, from Barracudas to Mustangs.
Cars fill the yard. George loved racing. And he worked on cars and sold them at a local dealership for a while before joining the Army at age 25.
"He was just ready for a change," Harold says. "And there's been Geers in the military every generation since the Revolutionary War. George believed in his country and what he was doing."
Finally, Harold sighs and says: "I kept thinking, 'George will be all right because I couldn't go through this twice."'
George enlisted in the Army just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After training, he served a year in Korea. He went to Iraq in July 2004 and was stationed at Ramadi, where he was a gunner with the 503rd Airborne Infantry. He made it home in August and rode his horse up to Shark's Tooth Peak.
In Iraq, George manned the heaviest handheld weapon, his father says. The younger men in his outfit called the 27-year-old "Grandpa."
"My baby is 27," Lois says. "That makes me feel old."
George was about 12 when the family moved from Michigan to southwestern Colorado. Harold, formerly a trucker, had traveled all over the country, often accompanied by his son, and they knew they wanted to settle here.
"He was always mature, even at age 12," Harold says of his son. "He was easygoing and friendly. He knew everybody. He looked out for the underdog. He was afraid of nobody. He lived in a black-and-white world. What was right was right. Wrong was wrong.
"I'm prejudiced as hell, but he was special."
George graduated from Dolores High School, where he was a wrestler. He hadn't married because he hadn't found the right girl yet, his father says.
"But he loved kids. He was looking forward to going to the school. He wanted to thank the kids for the letters and packages they sent him. He got everything from DVDs to Tostitos. He loved getting anything."
George had loved faraway places. He loved travel.
"George was going to go all the way around the world," his father says. "And now he will."
He was supposed to come home for a visit next month.
"When he called home, he didn't want to talk about Iraq," his father, Harold Geer, said Tuesday. "He wanted to hear about home, and if there was snow in the high country. He wanted to go skiing."
Home is a modest house surrounded by 40 acres at the base of the vast Mesa Verde escarpment south of Cortez.
Home is the high country, the La Plata and San Juan mountains, now buried deep in new snow, where he loved to ski, ride horses and hunt elk with his family. He knew the name of every peak and all their elevations, his father says.
Home is under the hood of the 1968 Dodge Charger he was going to restore with his father.
"I just got the first box of parts," Harold says.
He had everything ready for his son's upcoming two-week leave.
On Tuesday, the Geers didn't yet have all the details of their son's death.
"The guy that came yesterday, the only thing he knew was what it said on his paper," Harold says. "It was a suicide bomber."
George was trying to decide whether he would have a military career or go to college to become a geography teacher. But he became the first resident of southwestern Colorado to die in this war in Iraq, although at least one other casualty had strong ties here.
George's big sister, Hope, is inconsolable.
But Harold and Lois Geer are determined to talk about the good times with their son, who was a fine man and the second son they've lost. Their 19-year- old son Chad died in a car accident in 1989.
The Geers sit at their kitchen table and try to pick at the fried chicken and strawberries left by friends and neighbors. Stacks of soda pop cartons crowd the floor. George's golden retriever, Spot, happily greets all the visitors to this quiet spot at the end of a remote country lane.
"We've been overrun with the food people brought," Harold says.
Lois mostly smiles and nods at her husband's descriptions of hunting with George and of his son's passion for cars, from Barracudas to Mustangs.
Cars fill the yard. George loved racing. And he worked on cars and sold them at a local dealership for a while before joining the Army at age 25.
"He was just ready for a change," Harold says. "And there's been Geers in the military every generation since the Revolutionary War. George believed in his country and what he was doing."
Finally, Harold sighs and says: "I kept thinking, 'George will be all right because I couldn't go through this twice."'
George enlisted in the Army just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After training, he served a year in Korea. He went to Iraq in July 2004 and was stationed at Ramadi, where he was a gunner with the 503rd Airborne Infantry. He made it home in August and rode his horse up to Shark's Tooth Peak.
In Iraq, George manned the heaviest handheld weapon, his father says. The younger men in his outfit called the 27-year-old "Grandpa."
"My baby is 27," Lois says. "That makes me feel old."
George was about 12 when the family moved from Michigan to southwestern Colorado. Harold, formerly a trucker, had traveled all over the country, often accompanied by his son, and they knew they wanted to settle here.
"He was always mature, even at age 12," Harold says of his son. "He was easygoing and friendly. He knew everybody. He looked out for the underdog. He was afraid of nobody. He lived in a black-and-white world. What was right was right. Wrong was wrong.
"I'm prejudiced as hell, but he was special."
George graduated from Dolores High School, where he was a wrestler. He hadn't married because he hadn't found the right girl yet, his father says.
"But he loved kids. He was looking forward to going to the school. He wanted to thank the kids for the letters and packages they sent him. He got everything from DVDs to Tostitos. He loved getting anything."
George had loved faraway places. He loved travel.
"George was going to go all the way around the world," his father says. "And now he will."
Army Pfc. George Geer, 27, wanted to hear about the mountains of southwestern Colorado on Saturday, the last time he talked to his family before his death Monday in a bombing in Iraq.
He was supposed to come home for a visit next month.
"When he called home, he didn't want to talk about Iraq," his father, Harold Geer, said Tuesday. "He wanted to hear about home, and if there was snow in the high country. He wanted to go skiing."
Home is a modest house surrounded by 40 acres at the base of the vast Mesa Verde escarpment south of Cortez.
Home is the high country, the La Plata and San Juan mountains, now buried deep in new snow, where he loved to ski, ride horses and hunt elk with his family. He knew the name of every peak and all their elevations, his father says.
Home is under the hood of the 1968 Dodge Charger he was going to restore with his father.
"I just got the first box of parts," Harold says.
He had everything ready for his son's upcoming two-week leave.
On Tuesday, the Geers didn't yet have all the details of their son's death.
"The guy that came yesterday, the only thing he knew was what it said on his paper," Harold says. "It was a suicide bomber."
George was trying to decide whether he would have a military career or go to college to become a geography teacher. But he became the first resident of southwestern Colorado to die in this war in Iraq, although at least one other casualty had strong ties here.
George's big sister, Hope, is inconsolable.
But Harold and Lois Geer are determined to talk about the good times with their son, who was a fine man and the second son they've lost. Their 19-year- old son Chad died in a car accident in 1989.
The Geers sit at their kitchen table and try to pick at the fried chicken and strawberries left by friends and neighbors. Stacks of soda pop cartons crowd the floor. George's golden retriever, Spot, happily greets all the visitors to this quiet spot at the end of a remote country lane.
"We've been overrun with the food people brought," Harold says.
Lois mostly smiles and nods at her husband's descriptions of hunting with George and of his son's passion for cars, from Barracudas to Mustangs.
Cars fill the yard. George loved racing. And he worked on cars and sold them at a local dealership for a while before joining the Army at age 25.
"He was just ready for a change," Harold says. "And there's been Geers in the military every generation since the Revolutionary War. George believed in his country and what he was doing."
Finally, Harold sighs and says: "I kept thinking, 'George will be all right because I couldn't go through this twice."'
George enlisted in the Army just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After training, he served a year in Korea. He went to Iraq in July 2004 and was stationed at Ramadi, where he was a gunner with the 503rd Airborne Infantry. He made it home in August and rode his horse up to Shark's Tooth Peak.
In Iraq, George manned the heaviest handheld weapon, his father says. The younger men in his outfit called the 27-year-old "Grandpa."
"My baby is 27," Lois says. "That makes me feel old."
George was about 12 when the family moved from Michigan to southwestern Colorado. Harold, formerly a trucker, had traveled all over the country, often accompanied by his son, and they knew they wanted to settle here.
"He was always mature, even at age 12," Harold says of his son. "He was easygoing and friendly. He knew everybody. He looked out for the underdog. He was afraid of nobody. He lived in a black-and-white world. What was right was right. Wrong was wrong.
"I'm prejudiced as hell, but he was special."
George graduated from Dolores High School, where he was a wrestler. He hadn't married because he hadn't found the right girl yet, his father says.
"But he loved kids. He was looking forward to going to the school. He wanted to thank the kids for the letters and packages they sent him. He got everything from DVDs to Tostitos. He loved getting anything."
George had loved faraway places. He loved travel.
"George was going to go all the way around the world," his father says. "And now he will."
He was supposed to come home for a visit next month.
"When he called home, he didn't want to talk about Iraq," his father, Harold Geer, said Tuesday. "He wanted to hear about home, and if there was snow in the high country. He wanted to go skiing."
Home is a modest house surrounded by 40 acres at the base of the vast Mesa Verde escarpment south of Cortez.
Home is the high country, the La Plata and San Juan mountains, now buried deep in new snow, where he loved to ski, ride horses and hunt elk with his family. He knew the name of every peak and all their elevations, his father says.
Home is under the hood of the 1968 Dodge Charger he was going to restore with his father.
"I just got the first box of parts," Harold says.
He had everything ready for his son's upcoming two-week leave.
On Tuesday, the Geers didn't yet have all the details of their son's death.
"The guy that came yesterday, the only thing he knew was what it said on his paper," Harold says. "It was a suicide bomber."
George was trying to decide whether he would have a military career or go to college to become a geography teacher. But he became the first resident of southwestern Colorado to die in this war in Iraq, although at least one other casualty had strong ties here.
George's big sister, Hope, is inconsolable.
But Harold and Lois Geer are determined to talk about the good times with their son, who was a fine man and the second son they've lost. Their 19-year- old son Chad died in a car accident in 1989.
The Geers sit at their kitchen table and try to pick at the fried chicken and strawberries left by friends and neighbors. Stacks of soda pop cartons crowd the floor. George's golden retriever, Spot, happily greets all the visitors to this quiet spot at the end of a remote country lane.
"We've been overrun with the food people brought," Harold says.
Lois mostly smiles and nods at her husband's descriptions of hunting with George and of his son's passion for cars, from Barracudas to Mustangs.
Cars fill the yard. George loved racing. And he worked on cars and sold them at a local dealership for a while before joining the Army at age 25.
"He was just ready for a change," Harold says. "And there's been Geers in the military every generation since the Revolutionary War. George believed in his country and what he was doing."
Finally, Harold sighs and says: "I kept thinking, 'George will be all right because I couldn't go through this twice."'
George enlisted in the Army just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After training, he served a year in Korea. He went to Iraq in July 2004 and was stationed at Ramadi, where he was a gunner with the 503rd Airborne Infantry. He made it home in August and rode his horse up to Shark's Tooth Peak.
In Iraq, George manned the heaviest handheld weapon, his father says. The younger men in his outfit called the 27-year-old "Grandpa."
"My baby is 27," Lois says. "That makes me feel old."
George was about 12 when the family moved from Michigan to southwestern Colorado. Harold, formerly a trucker, had traveled all over the country, often accompanied by his son, and they knew they wanted to settle here.
"He was always mature, even at age 12," Harold says of his son. "He was easygoing and friendly. He knew everybody. He looked out for the underdog. He was afraid of nobody. He lived in a black-and-white world. What was right was right. Wrong was wrong.
"I'm prejudiced as hell, but he was special."
George graduated from Dolores High School, where he was a wrestler. He hadn't married because he hadn't found the right girl yet, his father says.
"But he loved kids. He was looking forward to going to the school. He wanted to thank the kids for the letters and packages they sent him. He got everything from DVDs to Tostitos. He loved getting anything."
George had loved faraway places. He loved travel.
"George was going to go all the way around the world," his father says. "And now he will."
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