Army Sgt. Clayton G. Dunn II, 22, Moreno Valley; among 3 paratroopers killed in bombing

Army Sgt. Clayton G. Dunn II grew up knowing he wanted to be a soldier.

The Moreno Valley native, who was killed May 26 in Iraq, was a second-generation soldier whose father, Roy, served in the Army for 22 years.

“He was brought up that way,” said Dunn’s wife, Haidy. “Ever since he was little, he would play in his dad’s boots and helmet.”

That helmet became a part of a memorial, with a white cross, flags and flowers, erected on the lawn of his parents’ home.

“He wanted to serve his country,” his wife said. “He would tell me, ‘Why send somebody who doesn’t want to go? I want to go and protect you guys.’ ”

Dunn, 22, was among three paratroopers who died when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad.

Also killed were Spc. Michael J. Jaurigue, 20, of Texas City, Texas, and Spc. Gregory N. Millard, 22, of San Diego.

All three were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Dunn was buried Monday in a flag-draped coffin at Riverside National Cemetery. Army officials presented his family with gold star lapel pins.

On June 2, the flag over the Capitol in Sacramento flew at half-staff in his honor.

“Sgt. Clayton Dunn’s death is a loss to all Californians. Clayton risked his life in order to safeguard the lives of all Americans,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Dunn graduated in 2003 from Rialto High School, where he was a track and cross-country star. A passionate runner, Dunn transferred to Rialto from Moreno Valley High School for his senior year because of Rialto’s more established track program.

He was a nominee in 2003 for the Ken Hubbs Award, which honors male high school athletes in the San Bernardino area. He also ran cross-country one year at San Bernardino Valley College.

Dunn’s enthusiasm for running introduced him to his future wife. Haidy Dunn, a runner herself, graduated from Rialto High School the year before he transferred there, but she was working with the cross-country team as a volunteer assistant when he joined.

“We started talking and started getting closer,” she recalled.

The relationship later took off when both worked at a Christmas tree lot owned by one of their coaches, David Japs, who died in January.

They married in July 2004, and Dunn left for basic training a week later. While stationed at Ft. Bragg, Dunn picked up a new athletic passion: golf.

“He wasn’t good at it,” his wife said, laughing, “but he enjoyed it so much.”

Dunn deployed to Iraq in August, when his wife was pregnant. The couple would debate baby names during twice-weekly long-distance phone calls.

“One day he just called me on the phone saying, ‘I have the name; you can stop searching,’ ” his wife said. The name was Grace.

Dunn first held his daughter, now 3 months old, during a visit home in April.

“He had a big old smile on his face and he didn’t know how to carry her,” his wife recalled. “He was carrying her like a football.

“He would say, ‘We’re not going to spoil her.’ And I’d tell him, ‘You know she’s going to be daddy’s little girl.’ ”

In addition to his wife and daughter, Dunn is survived by his parents, Roy and Aminta Dunn; and a brother, Roy Dunn Jr.

ashraf.khalil@latimes.com