NAPPANEE — Friends and family remember a local soldier whose died serving his country. Nearly 900 packed the Nappanee Missionary Church for a local soldier's funeral.

Staff Sergeant Travis Hunsberger was killed in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded, the first Nappanee soldier killed there.

"I know he's very proud of his sacrifice, so we have to live with that," said Mickey Roelandts whose son was Hunsberger's friend.

Hunsberger's sacrifice will now be a lesson about freedom. Roelandts is also the principal at Twin Branch Elementary School in Mishawaka. She plans to share Hunsberger's story with her students.

"I just want them to know how much our service men have done for us and what a sacrifice they have made for everyone here," she said.

The evidence of that sacrifice hit home when a 21 gun salute signaled Hunsberger's return from battle and taps lulled him to sleep.

"In his last words, he said he died doing what he loved and not everyone gets to experience that," said Brandon Rummel, Hunsberger's friend.

Rummel hugged other friends, while hundreds of others held flags and pictures close to their hearts.

"I have a tattoo right here on Saturday that I got. He is not going to be forgotten," said Rummel.

That tattoo is a star with Hunsberger's name. The star symbolizes the military.

Stars are often used on military banners given to soldiers' families and are blue, unless the soldier died in combat.

Thursday afternoon, Nappanee's mayor will escort Hunsberger's body to Fort Bragg.

Hunsberger will be buried in North Carolina. Fort Bragg was home to Hunsberger and his wife. His family said burial in a military cemetery is the highest honor their son could receive.