Hoffman, of Pine River, enlisted in early 2006.

After enlistment and basic training in Fort Benning, Ga., he had orders to go to Fort Drum, New York, where he trained for a year.

At one point he was rushing home from New York for Tayler's Oct. 2006 birth.

"I remember I was taking off from the Minneapolis Airport and I was in tears and I yelled to the whole plane that (Lori) just had my baby," he said. "I missed her (birth) by four hours; it broke my heart."

Later wife, Lori; her three children: Brandie, Devin and Summer; and the Hoffmans' daughter Tayler, hoped to move to New York to be with Pat, but because of circumstances, ended up living there for only a few months prior to his deployment overseas.

The summer in New York was challenging to say the least. They were near the top of the list for housing when a returning brigade pushed junior enlisted soldiers to the bottom of the list. As a private, first class, Hoffman and his family lived in hotels all summer instead.

"It was nice that we got to spend the summer together before going to Iraq," Pat said.

Having the experience of living in Pine River while Pat was in New York made it easier for the family to deal with the separation. "It was a little bit easier transition for myself and the children - for him being gone - because he already was," Lori said.

Hoffman was "wheels up" and headed to Iraq on Sept. 7, 2007.

He first spent 23 days in Kuwait, training and acclimating.

Next they headed to a city in the Northern Kirkuk province.

His unit switched out with 25th infantry division: "They had a really rough tour over there. They got pretty banged up and lost a lot of guys," Hoffman said.

Hoffman and his fellow soldiers began implementing new tactics, started working on public relations and helped start a local government.

"It was pretty amazing: you go there where they had absolutely no economy, everybody lived in fear...to actually having businesses next to each other competing for business: handing out flyers and advertising," he said.

"It was just awesome, if people did that before they would have gotten killed; before we left it was fantastic to see; even the kids playing in the streets. You'd have kids running up to you and asking for candy and soccer balls."

Hoffman was at Forward Operating Base McHenry or at a Joint Command Center. "We were right in the thick of it down there," he recalled. "The thing you had to content with there was you couldn't step outside to go to the bathroom without strapping on your body armor. It was a dangerous city when we first got there," he said.

Following reattachment to Delta Company, the soldiers were moved to a city called Riyad.

Hoffman said that Riyad was a little more peaceful, but the city needed help establishing a local government and with security.

Projects like city water needed completion.

"We were responsible for supporting them and getting their projects up and running without their having to be afraid of being attacked," he said.

Terrorists and insurgents were an ongoing problem.

His first three months in Iraq was non-stop with daily patrols, he recalls.

National interpreters - including former Iraqi Army soldiers - aided the U.S. troops.

"For me, the most rewarding part was when we left there we had built a nice, real strong relationship with the local nationals. Knowing that they have more faith and more confidence and more respect for us than they did when we first showed up there," Hoffman said.

The U.S. soldiers encountered members of the Iraqi Army; Iraqi Police; and Sons of Iraq (SOI) who pull security from local villages to keep the terrorists out.

However, sometimes the SOI would get in conflicts with the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police would come in to intervene.

The Iraqi citizens varied in religion and tribe: some were Sunni, some Shiite, others Christian. "It was a big mix of people. That's why there's always fighting," Hoffman said.

They were coming in with tough odds. "We were told we'd never tame the north; and that's exactly what we did," he said. "We left there on very good terms with the locals. They respect us; and they are appreciative of everything the United States does for them; whether they show it or not: they are."

The worst part of being in Iraq was the inability to identify the enemy. The U.S. soldiers arrested Iraqi policemen who they were working with when they found out they were spies. "That was the worst part; because you just never know when somebody would be leaking information out," he said.

While in Iraq, Hoffman bonded with his fellow soldiers.

"These guys are the only guys you got that are going to bring you home safe. You have to work with them, you have to trust them, you have to become brothers - otherwise it just doesn't work," he said.

A few of his fellow soldiers were injured. And, one of his good buddies was killed. Hoffman knows the date well: Dec. 21, 2007 - when his friend Pfc. George Howell, of Salinas, Calif., was killed.

After Howell died, it was like somebody turned off a light switch, Hoffman recalls. The weather grew colder and the fighting slowed. "I think they realized that they weren't going to beat us; they weren't scaring us off: there was no way," he said.

January and February brought continued focus on rebuilding. The U.S. soldiers started reaching out to outlying villages - providing security for projects.

The temperature got down to 18 or 19 degrees, and they even saw flurries a few days.

The weather and slow in fighting was in stark contrast to the scorching summertime heat and constant conflict.

In the summer the temperature soared to 130-140 degrees. Wearing 100 pounds of body armor - sometimes it was cooler outside than inside a truck if the air conditioning wasn't working. With his primary duty as a gunner, Hoffman would get out of the vehicle with cracked and peeled lips from the heat. "I'd be up in that gun hatch burning up," he said.

The need for fluids was so extreme at times that they learned how to give each other - and themselves - intravenous fluids.

The excruciating part was being away from his family.

Hoffman was able to keep in contact with Lori and the children through phones and the Internet.

"He called everyday, every morning," Lori recalls, of Hoffman's deployment.

Despite their contact, Lori had some cause to worry.

Hoffman was the gunner on a Medivac vehicle: a Mine-Resistant, Armor-Protected vehicle that would arrive on scene to provide security and assistance to disabled vehicles.

Once two 152-mm artillery shells exploded and hit their vehicle: dazing the occupants. "I was out right away," he recalled of the explosion.

Aside from his gunner duties, Hoffman also served as a team leader on dismounted missions where they'd be dropped off somewhere by helicopter. You're out in the middle of nowhere, you and 18 guys," Hoffman said. "That was actually some of the most peaceful moments of my life...out in the middle of nowhere."

Hoffman came home briefly in May of 2008 for daughter Rachel's birth. Then he returned to Iraq for the rest of his tour.

Back in Pine River Lori was caring for the children and missing her husband. "She had a way bigger load than I had," Pat recalls.

At one point the children had a lemonade stand in Pine River to raise funds for the family to travel by train to see Hoffman returning to New York.

Hoffman recalled standing in the gym during the National Anthem and remembering being there before his deployment.

"Just the week before you're out doing combat patrols and combat ops. You know, out there firing away. And there you are: you're at home safe and sound," he said.

"There's no feeling like that in the world; it makes you really appreciate what you've got; you really start learning to like what you had."

Hoffman returned home in August and has since joined the National Guard.