Spc. Andre Craig Jr.

Army Spc. Andre Craig Jr. was a leader even before he joined the military.

Ron Rosarbo, a high school security guard for 12 years at Wilbur Cross High School in his hometown of New Haven, Conn., remembered Craig well. "He was a quiet leader," Rosarbo said. "He always volunteered to do things, move boxes, take down bleachers."

Craig, 24, died June 25 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when a bomb exploded near the convoy on which he was serving as a gunner. He assigned to 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley.

Craig had become a father just before he died. He recently returned to New Haven for a brief visit to celebrate his birthday and to meet his infant daughter, Taylor, who was born while he was serving in Iraq.

Jonathan Craig's eyes welled up with tears when he recalled his older brother's last visit.

''The last words he said to me in the living room is take care of my daughter as if you were a father to her until I come back," he said.

Craig and his five siblings were close to their mother, a nurse's aide at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, said family friend Khabira Hill.

"He wanted to make her proud," Hill told The Hartford Courant.

Eric Brown, Andre's godfather, said Craig had hoped to use his military service to help with college costs. He planned to become a state trooper when he finished his military service. Craig had wanted to join the military since childhood, family members said, and turned down a scholarship to Rutgers University to serve in the Army.

He also is survived by his wife Shantia and daughter Taylor.