Robert Mulhair knew his brother Jeremy was destined to join the military.

“We played war games in cornfields,” he said. “He had a good imagination.”

Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Mulhair, 35, died in Iraq on Thursday when an explosion hit his vehicle near Taji, one of his sisters told The Associated Press.

Robert Mulhair of Mead said his brother was a tank commander with the Apache Troop, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment. He’d been in Iraq since October and was on his second tour of duty, Robert said. Jeremy also served in South Korea.

Robert said his brother loved his family and hoped he and his wife, Suzie, would have another child when he got back from Iraq.

“He was a good man,” Robert Mulhair said. “He had good family values and wanted a big family.”

Suzie Mulhair and the couple’s children — Celina, 9, Jeremy Jr., 8, and Maybel, 9 months — live near Fort Hood, Texas, where Jeremy was stationed.

She called the rest of the family Thursday night to tell them what had happened, Robert Mulhair said.

Jeremy Mulhair was born in Michigan, but grew up on a farm near Omaha.

He went to Horace Mann Junior High, which is now King Science and Technology Magnet, and Omaha Central High School. He later earned an equivalency degree.

Robert Mulhair said military ties in their family probably encouraged his brother to become a soldier. Their father, Jerry, served in Vietnam, and they had an uncle in the Navy and a cousin in the Marines.

“Dad used to tell stories about (the military),” Robert Mulhair said. “(Jeremy) got hooked on it more than any of us kids.”

In addition to his brother and wife and children, Jeremy Mulhair is survived by his parents and sisters Tammy Lines and Dixie Heisner, both of Omaha.

No services had been set Saturday night.

Reach Mark Mahoney at mmahoney@journalstar.com or 473-7237.