The commander of the North Dakota National Guard says he worries that the death of two soldiers in one day will hurt support among state residents for the war in Iraq.

"I hope it deepens resolve, rather than make everybody think we've got to get out of there," Maj. Gen. Michael Haugen said Sunday. "Every time the terrorists succeed I think they will deepen their resolve and they hope to lessen ours. It's war, and that's what happens in a war."

The Guard on Sunday confirmed the death of Pvt. Philip Brown, 21, of Jamestown, who died Saturday after suffering a chest wound and having his legs amputated below the knees. Brown was wounded by a bomb while on foot patrol. Haugen said he did not know where in Iraq it happened.

Brown's family on Saturday said they had been notified by the military of his death. Brown's cousin, Tessa Gould of Sioux Falls, S.D., said Sunday that the family was still trying to cope and had not yet made funeral arrangements.

"My uncle is having a very hard time of it," she said. "We're just trying to get everybody (to Jamestown)."

Brown's parents, Richard and Deidra Brown, live in Jamestown. Brown was not married.

The Jamestown College business student was a member of the Guard's 141st Engineer Combat Battalion, which is based in Valley City.

Another member of the 141st, Spc. James Holmes, 28, of East Grand Forks, Minn., also died Saturday, in a hospital in Germany. He had been wounded earlier in the week by a roadside bomb while he was on a vehicle patrol in Iraq.

Holmes, who grew up in Arizona, was a former University of North Dakota student and was working at Valley Petroleum in Grand Forks when he volunteered to serve with the 141st. He was not married.

A total of five North Dakota National Guard soldiers have died of injuries suffered in Iraq. The other three were with the Bismarck-based 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company.

"It's a terrible loss for the families, a loss for the Guard family, a loss for North Dakota," Haugen said.

Other officials echoed that sentiment on Sunday.

Gov. John Hoeven said all North Dakotans were grieving, and he hoped that would be a source of comfort for the families. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., said the deaths of Holmes and Brown were "a tragic loss."

"Both young men are heroes and represent the highest caliber of Americans whose lives are on the line every day in the effort to rebuild Iraq," Pomeroy said.