ATWATER-

This Fourth of July was supposed to be the homecoming of Army Specialist Terry Hurne.

“He was the sweetest, kindest person that you could ever meet,” Terry’s sister, Cheryl Hurne said.

On Tuesday, parishioners of Saint Anthony’s church in his hometown of Atwater gathered in prayer to remember their hometown hero, a man killed while serving his country.

“Terry was a hero in all parts of his life… he was a hero far before that,” his sister proudly said.

Terry served two tours in Afghanistan, assigned to the 71st Brigade Support Battalion, combat team.

His sister, Cheryl, put the American flag up on the front of her home, both times he deployed.

“I told him I was going to put up my flag, and that it would stay up until he came home safe,”  she said. “He hugged me and he told me, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back, I promise.’”

But it was a promise he couldn’t keep.

The Department of Justice told the family just yesterday, that Terry died in a non-combat incident.

“I try not to think about it. It’s too hard,” Cheryl said.

At this point, it’s unclear how Terry died. Family says he couldn’t talk a lot about what he did over there, but Cheryl knew he was a sharp shooter, and was responsible for the building and breaking down of barracks – a job he prided himself in.

Being a soldier was his life.

“Oh my gosh, He was so proud. He wanted so badly to go into the military,” Cheryl said.

But if you didn’t know Terry from his military career, you’d see him as a man who just wanted to do good in his life.

“He would help anybody who came to him asking for help,” his sister added. “If you called him, he’d give up his entire weekend to help.”