A 47-year-old Army reservist from Mililani died over the weekend during field training at Fort Polk, La., in advance of a deployment to the Middle East, the Army said yesterday.

The Department of Defense also announced a 28-year-old soldier who grew up on the Big Island was one of four who died Thursday in Samarra, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee while they were on a mission assessing mines.

The reservist, Maj. Marino G. David, a member of the 9th Regional Readiness Command headquarters at Fort Shafter, was reported missing around 1 p.m. Saturday during a land navigation exercise, officials said. A search was immediately started and he was found unconscious about three hours later. The Army said he was taken to Bayne-Jones Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The soldier, Spc. Ray Fuhr-mann II, was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Ga. He graduated from Waiakea High School.

Officials said heat stroke was involved in David's death. Family members could not be reached for comment.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, issued a statement about David, saying the state "has suffered the loss of of one of its finest citizens."

"Although he was not directly in harm's way, Maj. David was doing everything necessary to help prepare the men and women of our armed services to meet the challenge of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom," Abercrombie's statement said. "His contributions to the readiness of our troops will be greatly missed."

An Army reservist since 1978 who was married and has a 26-year-old son, David managed the liaison program out of Fort Shafter, sending officers to units across the Pacific to assist with training and operations.

David was assigned individually to the 321st Theater Material Management Center out of Baton Rouge, La., which is undergoing standard mobilization training for deployment to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Sgt. Maj. Ryan Sueyoshi, the senior operations noncommissioned officer for the 9th Regional Readiness Command, said David was a little apprehensive at first about the deployment.

"But as it came closer and closer, he was very supportive of the program," Sueyoshi said. "He was willing to serve his country as best he could in his job as an ordnance officer."

A low-key send-off was held for David about three weeks ago at the airport. His family was there "and they were very supportive," Sueyoshi said.

Sueyoshi, who worked in the same office, said David was "a fairly quiet guy, but very personable. He got along well with everyone. Everyone respected and liked him."

Reserve officials were not sure what type of job David held in civilian life. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Fuhrmann was born in Ho-nolulu and moved to Volcano on the Big Island when he was about 5 years old, said his grandfather, Ray Fuhrmann I. The younger Fuhrmann moved to the Mainland soon after graduating from Waiakea High School and enlisted in the Army four years ago.

Fuhrmann returned to Iraq in December for his second tour of duty, and his family last saw him in February when he returned to attend his grandmother's funeral.

Ray Fuhrmann I said his grandson was a medic and that put him at the front line.

"He participated in most of the early part of the war, and came back (home) and went back a second time, when he knew what was going on," said his father, Michael Fuhrmann, who also lives in Volcano. "He still went back to be in the front lines again."

Ray Fuhrmann I said: "He liked what he was doing. He liked the people he was working with. He didn't completely agree with what was going on, but he was a good soldier and he did what he was told to do."

Fuhrmann said his grandson planned to pursue a medical career after getting out of the Army.

"He was a wonderful person. He was an asset to the community and to the country, and they are the ones who will be losers, really," he said. "We loved him. We certainly didn't expect it to happen. We certainly didn't want it to happen, and we were hopeful that he was going to get out of there."

Ray Fuhrmann II also is survived by his wife, Tylea.

David, who was mobilized on July 18 for his first combat deployment, was a platoon leader with the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry early in his Army career.

Dozens of Army Reserve soldiers from Hawai'i have been mobilized to fill slots in units deployed to war zones, and several hundred Hawai'i soldiers with the 100th Battalion are midway through a yearlong deployment to Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Frank Tiai, 45, was the first reservist with the 100th Battalion to be killed in Iraq when a bomb exploded beneath his Humvee on July 17.

Another middle-aged officer, Col. Roderick G. Demps, 45, the Military Police Brigade commander at Schofield Barracks, collapsed last week and died while running on the base.

Officials said David met the standards for the Army Reserve's annual physical fitness training program. An autopsy was to be performed by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's office out of Rockville, Md.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com and Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.