KENNESAW -- Steve Osborne was a police officer and a soldier, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who went to Iraq to work as a private contractor protecting personnel for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, his sister-in-law said.

Osborne, 40, died Thursday when two bombers penetrated the highly protected Green Zone and blew themselves up at a bazaar close to the Embassy.

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He was one of at least three employees of the private U.S. security firm DynCorp who were killed. Another was missing, and two were wounded.

Another Georgia man, John Jenkins, 39, of Meridian was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to information from Computer Service Corp., the parent company of DynCorp.

Iraq's most feared terror group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the twin blasts and said they were suicide attacks, according to a statement posted on a Web site known for its Islamic content.

Osborne had been in Iraq since May and "was protecting dignitaries from the U.S. Embassy," said Amy Stafford, the sister of Osborne's wife, Karen.

"He loved his country and was proud to serve it," Stafford said.

The family, including two daughters, 16 and 12, was in mourning Thursday night at the home in Kennesaw, about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Stafford said that Osborne, a 1982 graduate North Cobb High School, had gone to Kennesaw State University. "He was constantly training with the military and was with the Cobb County Police Department," she said.

He also worked as a police officer for the city of Villa Rica.

"That's what he did," Stafford said. "He looked out for people."

He also was in the Army Reserve and was in Afghanistan two years ago with the Special Forces, she said.

Some time prior to that, Stafford said, Osborne had worked with DynCorp in Bosnia, then was a police officer in Villa Rica, Ga., west of Atlanta.

After service in Afghanistan, Osborne was home and inactive with the Reserve, she said.

"Shortly after that year was up, he decided to go with DynCorp," Stafford said.

Much of Osborne's childhood was spent in the Washington, D.C., area before his family moved to Georgia, she said.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Jovita Moore contributed to this report.