Lukasz D. Saczek and Michal Ambrozewicz became close after a tragedy: The death of Ambrozewicz’s little brother.

“He came to the funeral and not really being very close at the time, it was a great sign of respect. I realized that I should be friends with a guy like that.”

Saczek, 23, of Lake in the Hills, Ill., died May 10 in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from a noncombat-related incident. He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Woodstock, Ill.

Saczek, who grew up on the northwest side of Chicago, was married to Kathryn and had a 6-week-old daughter, Emily. He briefly attended Wilbur Wright College before enlisting in the National Guard in July 2006.

After his parents moved to Lake in the Hills, Saczek would drive down to visit friends every chance he could, even if it was only for a couple of hours.

Samantha Klausing said she met him at a New Year’s party when she was dating one of his friends. When they broke up, Saczek was supportive.

“He was very honest, very outspoken,” Klausing said. “He was good to talk to, and he offered good advice on anything that bothered me.”