Carlos Saenz First sergeant posthumously awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart and several other medals Nanette Saenz cries as she holds the flag that covered her husband's casket during a memorial service on Saturday. Carlos Saenz, a first sergeant with the Army Reserves, was killed in Iraq on May 5. Photo by John Locher.

When 1st Sgt. Carlos Saenz was home in November from Iraq, it was clear he believed he was making a difference.

"He enjoyed his tour with the Iraqis. He loved the Iraqis, loved the mission," said his sister-in-law Jeany Davidson. "He saw himself as a peacemaker over there."

About 350 people attended a Saturday memorial service for the Army Reserve soldier, who died near Al Hillah, Iraq, on May 5.

His flag-draped casket at the front of the room, the 46-year-old was honored as a "soldier's soldier."

"He'd be the first to tell you not to remember him as a hero," said Chuck Giesler, Saenz's friend and brother-in-law. "He'd want us to remember him as a good father, a good son, a good soldier."

After the eulogy, a video montage of photos set to the song "Angry American" played. It had been prepared by Saenz's 14-year-old son, Juan.

The casket was carried outside, where an honor guard shot 21 times in Saenz's honor. Soldiers folded the flag that had covered his coffin and presented it and two others to the family, along with medals awarded posthumously.

A bugler played taps as the honor guard carried away the casket. It will be flown to Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington, D.C., for burial.

Saenz had served as a soldier in the regular Army, Nevada National Guard and Army Reserves, as well as working for Nevada Test Site security firm Wackenhut Services Inc., for more than 20 years.

Beyond the battlefield, Saenz was praised as a family man.

"He had a unique, abiding, loving relationship with his son and wife," Davidson said.

When news reached Iraq that Juan did well in a science fair, Saenz banged on another soldier's door to wake him up so they could go shopping.

"Oh, my son! Oh, my son!" Saenz shouted with glee, according to the soldier's e-mail. "He's going to be the smart one in the family."

Saenz was killed when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle during combat operations about 60 miles south of Baghdad, according to a statement from the U.S. military. Las Vegas resident Spc. Teodoro Torres Jr. also was killed, as was Sgt. Nathan J. Vacho of Janesville, Wis.

Saenz and Torres, who worked for a local helicopter company, were assigned to the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion in Abilene, Texas. They were attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Saenz was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Medal on Saturday. He also received the Combat Action Badge, which was awarded for direct contact with the enemy on May 5.

Saenz was born on Jan. 29, 1960, in Mexico. He came to the United States as a child and his family moved to Nevada in 1970, "searching for a better life," Giesler said.

According to Special Operations Command, Saenz entered active duty in 1978 and served with the 508th Infantry of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Records from the Nevada National Guard show he was a member of the Nevada Guard from June 1990 to 1992, serving with the 72nd Military Police Company in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

In June of 1994, he was assigned to the Guard's 1st Squadron, 221st Armor Battalion, Las Vegas until January 2000. Then, he became an instructor in the 421st Regional Training Institute in Stead. In May 2002, he joined the Guard's 1864th Transportation Company, Henderson until he was honorably discharged in January 2004. He then was assigned to the Individual Ready Reserve.

He met his wife, Nanette, while in the Army during the first Iraq war, Davidson said.

He is survived by his wife, and son, both of Las Vegas; his father, Jose Tarin, of Mexico; his mother, Joaquina Chores, of Henderson; and three sisters and one brother, all of Las Vegas.