War entered Kristina M. Ramsey's kitchen on May 1, the day after her son's best friend, a Navy sailor, was killed in Iraq.

"There was a bomb in my kitchen," Ramsey, 51, said yesterday at her quiet East Freetown home, describing the devastating news. "We were discussing a bomb in my kitchen."

Such conversations are unlikely to fade away any time soon as Ramsey's son, Jonathan J. Reid, 22, who holds the rank of US Coast Guard petty officer 3d class, prepares for his deployment to the Middle East at the Otis Air National Guard Base. The exact location and the time of his departure are undisclosed for security reasons.

When Ramsey heard last year that her son had volunteered to go to one of the world's most unstable regions, she "felt ill."

"I was ill because I knew he probably would be called over," she said. "We've kind of been on pins and needles."

But Reid, who said he has never been abroad before, is proud to follow in the footsteps of his friend, Petty Officer 2d Class Tyler J. Trahan, who was killed April 30 during combat operations in Fallujah.

"We joked about how cool it would be if we ran into each other over there and what a story that would be," Reid said yesterday.

His world stopped when he learned of Trahan's death. The next day, which happened to be Trahan's birthday, he got a tattoo on his rib cage of his deceased friend's name, the insignia of the Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams, and the phrase "Freedom Isn't Free" in Arabic.

"He's going to be my inspiration while I'm over there," Reid said. "He's going to be with me every day, and I'm going to trust that he's going to bring me home safe."

But Trahan's death has made Ramsey and her younger son, 15-year-old Mark S. Persson, a little more fearful.

"My brother has always been a father figure of my life," Persson said yesterday. "There's a big chance I could lose him. It tears me up inside."

When the brothers were home together, they would watch movies and play rummy every night. Though Persson could not be prouder of his brother, a part of him wishes things would continue the same way.

"I want him to be here," Persson said. "When I play football and I'm not doing good on the field, I want him to be there to give me pointers or something."

Ramsey had always wanted her son to serve his country, but was content with him defending domestic ports. She saw places like Afghanistan as unfit for inexperienced soldiers. "It's dangerous. I was afraid of that."

Ramsey organized a going away party for her son at her home last month. She also created a memorial for Trahan, where attendees planted flags and lit candles in his memory.

"I wanted to bring Tyler into my son's going away party," Ramsey said. "That was the best way."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Army plans to reduce the size of some of its 36 wounded warrior units by the end of the month and close three by October after tightening standards to stem a flood of patients, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The warrior transition units were created in 2007 to address reports of substandard care for wounded, ill and injured soldiers. The number of soldiers in these units has dropped from a high of more than 12,000 last June to about 9,500 currently as the Army screened patients more closely.

The Army announced last month that the falling numbers meant it would close three units at installations in Kansas and Alabama and reduce the size of four others at posts in Kansas, Georgia, Washington and the Fort Campbell installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Two units in Virginia will merge into a larger one.

Robert Moore, a spokesman for the Warrior Transition Command, said Tuesday the size reductions are expected to be finished around July 1 and the closings around Oct. 1.

Commanders say the decrease is because the Army last year imposed stricter screening procedures for admitting soldiers into the units.

Previously, the Army automatically sent any ill or injured soldier who needed more than six months of recovery to a warrior transition unit. The soldiers were assigned officers and enlisted leaders to manage their medical care and they were assisted by medical staff who helped them through recovery and rehabilitation.