DAVENPORT, Iowa -- An American flag flew at half-staff Saturday in a quiet, north Davenport neighborhood -- a symbol of the tragedy unfolding for a soldier"s family down the block.

U.S. Army Cpl. Jason Graham Pautsch, 20, of Davenport was one of five U.S. soldiers killed Friday in an attack by a suicide truck bomber. The 2007 Davenport North High School graduate was killed in what the military described as the deadliest strike against American forces in Iraq in 13 months.

The attack also killed three Iraqis -- a soldier, a police officer and a civilian -- and injured 60 other people, according to wire reports.

"He died on Good Friday. I know someone else who lost a son on Good Friday," Pautsch"s father, David Pautsch, said referring to Jesus" death on the cross. "It"s significant he died on Good Friday. Jason"s fine (in heaven). It is the rest of us who are left who have a huge hole in our heart."

The elder Pautsch learned of his son"s death about 6 p.m. Friday when soldiers -- dressed in their green Class A uniforms -- knocked on his door.

"It seems like just a bad dream," he said. "This is something that happens to someone else. You never think it"s going to happen to you."

Jason Pautsch was a squadron leader in the Army"s 4th Infantry Division.

"His whole squad was wiped out," his teary-eyed father said during an interview at the home he shared for a few years with Jason, his second-oldest son.

In addition to his father, the younger Pautsch is survived by his mother, Teri Johnson of Moline, three brothers, Jared, Jacob and Josef, and a sister, Jenna. Family members will leave today for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to be there when the body arrives. Funeral services are pending.

Pautsch said his son"s squadron was driving in a U.S. military convoy about 10 a.m. Friday when the suicide bomber detonated a truck loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives.

"That"s enough ammo to take out a city block," he said. "Apparently, they were in the wrong place at the right time."

According to wire reports, the bomber evaded several concrete barriers and detonated the truck near the local headquarters of Iraq"s national police. The soldiers" passing convoy provided the bomber with a "target of opportunity," U.S. Army spokesman Maj. Derrick Cheng said.

The explosion at the compound sent glass flying, destroyed five armored vehicles and charred two other U.S. vehicles, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Pautsch said his son"s squadron was riding in MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, when the attack occurred.

"Jason just called Thursday at two o"clock, and we talked an hour. Twelve hours later he"s dead," Pautsch said, adding that he never let himself think that his son could be killed in action. "Maybe I was in denial. I thought for sure he"d come back in flying colors, live a long life and die of old age."

In addition, his oldest son, Jared, is in the Army"s 82nd Airborne and is stationed stateside in Fort Bragg, N.C.

"I always told Jason I loved him and I was proud of him," Pautsch said, recalling how his son moved in with him after the divorce -- bringing his BMX bike and a box of clothes.

The elder Pautsch, who is the president and CEO of L.W. Ramsey Advertising Agency and the founder and executive director of Thy Kingdom Come Ministries, admitted "Jason was no angel," especially during his younger, rebellious days. "But he had turned his life around after accepting Jesus in his heart."

"He made a lot of mistakes," he said, recalling how a BMX bike accident in 2003 became a turning point for his son. "He thought he was going to have surgery, or he thought he might die."

The two prayed together that God would forgive him of his sins, and Pautsch said, "The prayer clicked. Jason got a job at Green Thumbers. He let me cut his hair, and he got rid of the black dye."

Jason Pautsch was planning a visit back home in May and was about a month away from being promoted to sergeant. He had been wrestling with whether to re-enlist or return home. He joined the Army in 2007 after graduating early in October 2006 and had been deployed to Iraq last September.

"I remember he told me once 'You know, Dad, I"m really good at this," " Pautsch said, adding that his son had asked if he could move back in, "and I remember telling him 'it would be an honor to have you live with me." "

As news of the soldier"s death spread among friends and family Saturday, it was a constant barrage of cell phone calls and knocks on the door at Pautsch"s home.

Jane Ridenhower, the personal assistant for Thy Kingdom Come Ministries, said Jason"s death is touching everyone around them.

"I cried and cried," she said, recalling how she heard a national news account of an attack Friday. "Somehow, my spirit knew. You pray that you"re wrong, but I just knew it was him."

Ridenhower, who had been e-mailing encouraging words to the younger Pautsch and sending care packages, said, "God just directed me to send something to him."

Davenport North High School Principal Jane Andrews said when she heard five U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack, she feared it was one of her former students.

"It"s been two years since Katie Soenksen died," she said. "It was about this time of year. And then I got the call."

Soenksen was a private first class in the Army and a 2005 graduate of Davenport North when, at age 19, she died in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq May 2, 2007.

"It"s just too familiar to us, unfortunately," Andrews said.

As for Jason, she said, "We were not surprised that he was a squadron leader. He was a nice kid and found what he wanted to do in life; and he was a leader.

"It"s just a shame," Andrews added. "My heart goes out to the family."

Jason Pautsch played football as a junior under then coach Jon Flynn. Flynn is now the school"s athletic director.

"He was a great young man," Flynn said. "He had a very, very, very strong work ethic. He was a very strong young man, and he was very passionate about everything he did."

Pautsch played offensive lineman and linebacker and defensive end, he said.

"He was small by MAC standards, maybe 155-160 pounds dripping wet." But as all athletes learn, Flynn said, "It"s not about size. It"s about heart. And he had heart; all kinds of it."

Pautsch wrestled as well, he said. "He was just a tremendous competitor."

Drew Virtue, 20, of Davenport said he has been close friends with Jason since sixth grade. They played football together.

"There"s a lot of things I can say about Jason," Virtue said. "One of the things that stands out about him is his faith. Jason had real strong faith. I"m sure he"s up in heaven looking down on us now."

David Pautsch said that his son"s faith was unbreakable. He said that when Jason was training last year in the Mojave Desert, he was having a discussion with some of his buddies and one got rather antagonistic and said what"s so special about Christianity?

"As it turned out he opened his mouth and said, 'It"s like this. All the other pretend gods want you to die for them, but instead Jesus died for you,"" David Pautsch said. "That pretty much stopped the mouths of his detractors."

On the football field, on the wrestling mat, and in all he did, Jason "had a lot of hustle, more than anybody I ever knew," Virtue said.

"There"s never a bad moment with Jason," he added. "I could go on for days and days about him and still it wouldn"t do him justice.

Virtue said that his friend"s death "still hasn"t sunk in. It"s going to take a lot of time to get over this, or at least to accept it."