Army Sergeant Juan Carlos Baldeosingh, 30, of Newport, NC, was assigned to the 120th Combined Arms Battalion, North Carolina National Guard, Wilmington, N.C. He died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle on June 29th, 2009, in Baghdad, Iraq.

SGT Baldeosingh’s Holy Trinity Catholic School classmates recalled him talking about joining the service during lunches and walking for long distances with bricks in his backpack as training for long marches. After graduating, he began his military career in the U.S. Marine Corp as a fire direction controlman. After four years, SGT Baldeosingh left the Marine Corps for a job on Carteret General Hospital’s safety and security team as a Spanish translator, but his desire to serve his country never wavered as he enlisted in the National Guard in 2008.

His family remembered him as funny, kind, thoughtful and devoted to his daughters. His wife said, “I am so proud of him for fighting for our country. He did what he wanted to do, and that was to be in the military.”

SGT Baldeosingh was survived by his wife and three daughters.