Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Winder, who grew up in Blanding in southeastern Utah, died June 26 from small-arms fire in Ad Diwaniyah, the department said.

     He was a Special Forces medic assigned to an airborne unit. Winder was part of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, out of Fort Lewis, Washington.

     A native of South Korea, Winder was 2 when he was adopted by Tom and Terri Winder of Blanding. He left the area 14 years ago to pursue a career in the armed forces.

     “They’re shocked and sorrowed, like you’d expect. But they’re a strong family,” said family spokesman Bill Boyle, publisher of the San Juan Record, a weekly newspaper in San Juan County.

     Winder was married and had an 11-year-old son.

     Army Sgt. 1st Class Nathan L. Winder was with his unit at an Iraqi hospital when they spotted a girl with a gash on her face. She had apparently been refused care.

     For privacy, some soldiers surrounded the girl while Winder used his skills as a medic to stitch up the wound on her cheek. Winder gave her a stuffed toy when he was done.

     Someone had a camera outside the hospital, and the resulting picture of that impromptu operation now remains as an example of how Winder’s parents define their son.

     “He loved kids,” said his father, Tom Winder. “He always had something for the kids.”

     Winder, 32, of Blanding, Utah, died June 26 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, of wounds from small-arms fire. He was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

     Born in Seoul, South Korea, Winder was adopted at the age of 2.

     In all, the Winders have adopted eight children, some of them with special needs.

     “The fact that he was abandoned at such an early age affected him all his life,” said his mother, Terri Winder. “He was very tender, even though he had created a hard shell on the outside. And he laughed a lot.”

He also is survived by his wife, Mechelle, and their 11-year-old son, Logan.