"I will always remember Sgt. Barnes for the way he took care of his fellow soldiers," Tabbert said.

He described Barnes as "the type of guy you wanted your daughter or your sister to marry" and referred to him as the "nucleus of our band of brothers."

Shortly before he was killed, Nathan Barnes wrote in an e-mail to his family that preserving American freedoms was well worth the horrors he had seen in combat, said Timothy Barnes.

"If any of you are wondering if being in the Army is worth it, the answer is yes," Nathan Barnes wrote.

Nathan Barnes was a fun-loving, fiercely stubborn man who loved children and philosophy, family members said. He loved spending time camping, fishing, reading and talking philosophy.

"He was the easiest person — always fun, never required anything of you," said his brother Michael Barnes. "He was just there to help."

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