Marine Pfc. Chad E. Bales, 20, a logistics vehicle system operator died April 3 in a vehicle accident in Iraq. Friends and former teachers in his hometown of Coahoma, Texas, a town of 1,000 people 260 miles west of Dallas, described Bales as happy-go-lucky, popular and responsible.

“Chad was the type of man who did whatever needed to be done,” said a former high school football teammate, Billy-Bob Walker. “He never complained and always pulled his share.”

The school’s football coach, Robert Wood, called him a go-getter. “He gave great effort in everything he did and was always willing to play his role,” Wood said.