Melissa McKenna Brower, a good friend of Master Sgt. David L. Hurt's, wipes away a tear during a memorial service at the Casas Adobes VFW Post for the soldier killed in Afghanistan.

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Though he hadn't lived in Tucson in more than a decade, friends and family members say Southern Arizona was still home to Army Master Sgt. David L. Hurt, who was killed in Afghanistan on Feb. 20.

It was fitting, then, that about 100 people crowded into a North Side Veterans of Foreign Wars post Monday afternoon to pay their last respects to Hurt, 36, who was on his fifth deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed.

"He's a hero," said Hurt's close friend, Arizona National Guard Master Sgt. Samuel Martin, who spoke at the service. "I take a lot of pride, knowing he was my friend."

Hurt, a Green Beret and a graduate of Santa Rita High School, had earned numerous awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, his U.S. Army biography states.

Hurt and another non-commissioned officer were in a vehicle that was struck by a homemade bomb near the village of Khordi in Oruzgan province. Shortly afterward, the unit came under enemy fire. Staff Sgt. Jeremy E. Bessa, 26, a native of Hawaii who grew up in Apache Junction, died at the scene.

Hurt was flown to Kandahar Airfield, where he died. Both soldiers were assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Forces.

Bessa's cousin, Jessica Beaulieu, attended Hurt's service at Casas Adobes VFW Post No. 10188, 345 E. Roger Road, and also spoke about Bessa, whose only child was born in December.

Knowing there was a chance he wouldn't return, Beaulieu said Bessa left behind a video message for his son.

"He loved life, family and friends," she said.

Many of the veterans who lined the edges of the warm room holding U.S. flags had never met Hurt. But they saluted him, praised his accomplishments and some shed a tear when a trumpet player blew taps.

An enlarged picture of the 6-foot-1-inch, brown-haired, blue-eyed soldier was set alongside a small stage.

His friends spoke of the former football player's dedication to physical fitness and of his strong work ethic, whether he was moving rocks, conducting military drills or defending his country.

Hurt was already memorialized in Fayette-ville, N.C., with a wake on Friday and a funeral on Saturday. On Thursday, he'll be remembered again in a service at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was based.

"It's a different kind of hurt. Half my heart is gone. He was a manly man and a soldier, but he was still my baby," Hurt's mother, Bonnie L. Hurt, said Monday.

Bonnie Hurt, who lives in North Carolina, was unable to attend the Tucson service but said she knew the tribute would have meant a lot to her son.

"He always looked at Tucson as his home," she said. "He'd always talked about taking his wife and kids there."

Hurt's mother said her son had recently begun a part-time career in real estate and that his affable nature and good sense for sales fueled early success. He expected to complete his 20 years with the military in a couple of years and was looking forward to working full time in real estate and spending more time with his family, she said.

In addition to his mother, Hurt is survived by his wife, Kelly; a daughter, Avery; and a son, Wyatt, all of Grays Creek, N.C.; and his father, Joe Hurt, of Memphis, Tenn.

Hurt is the 40th service member with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona to die due to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.