The war in Iraq has claimed the lives of two more Hawai'i soldiers.

Pfc. Jay S. Cajimat, 20, from Lahaina, and Forrest D. Cauthorn, a 22-year-old sergeant from Virginia who was stationed at Schofield Barracks, were killed in Iraq last week, the Army announced yesterday.

Cajimat, killed Friday in a Baghdad bomb attack, was "a soft-hearted boy" who will be missed by family and friends, said his mother, Lilibeth.

Cajimat was born in the Philippines and moved to Hawai'i with his family in 1989. He graduated from Lahainaluna High School in 2005 and enlisted in the Army "right after" graduation, his mother said.

Cajimat died from wounds suffered in a car-bomb explosion, the Defense Department announced.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Riley, Kan.

Cajimat was deployed to Iraq Feb. 5, his mother said. It was his first tour of duty there. He kept in touch by e-mail, and his family sent him letters.

Survivors also include his father, Dionie, and three sisters, Kaya, 18, LC, 16 and LJ, 3.

Friends and family posted messages of sorrow and loss at Cajimat's www.MySpace.com page.

"I love you and miss you, Jay," sister LC said. "You will never be forgotten."

Lilibeth Cajimat said her son did not have a steady girlfriend. "When I asked him, he always said, 'Not yet, Mom,' " she said.

In one of his own online postings, Cajimat said, "I like to do anything that gets my mind off of what I do for a living. I like to joke around, sometimes too much, (I'm) really easy to get along with most of the time."

In a mid-March posting, Cajimat said, "I've changed and people say that change sometimes is a good thing. For me though, it's not something I want. ... I just need some time to think this through."

Cauthorn, of Midlothian, Va., died Thursday in Hawija, Iraq, when his unit was fighting "enemy forces using small arms and grenades," the Army said.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks.

No other information about Cauthorn was available yesterday.

Five soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division were killed Dec. 6, in the same Iraq location where Cauthorn died, the single greatest combat loss for the 25th Infantry Division since the Vietnam War.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.