"He was a jokester and a fun-loving guy and always smiling,” is how Cathy Jones remembers Julian Berisford. 

The 25-year old soldier from Benwood, West Virginia was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan earlier this week.   Berisford was on his first deployment with the Army and had been in the country since March.   He leaves behind a wife and young daughter.

Jones, whose son is also deployed on active duty in the Army, said she received the news from her older son on Wednesday night, eerily just after a conversation about Julian. 

"I was in a class and we were talking about the 'Fatheads' you can buy for your wall.  Somebody said Julian's family had a Fathead of him on the wall so the little girl could see her daddy," Jones tells MetroNews. "An hour later, I got a call from my oldest son and he said, 'Did you hear about Julian?'  I knew what he was going to say when he said, 'Did you hear about...'"

Jones is the school nurse at John Marshall High School where Berisford graduated in 2007 along with her son.  Berisford was a wrestler in school and apparently hung out with a number of classmates during his time. Although it wasn't his life-long ambition, she says Julian chose to be a soldier, knowing the risk.

"He just wanted to serve our country and protect our freedom so that we could just go about our daily lives," Jones said. "I know his family and my heart goes out to them.  His mom was so proud of him."

The news has shaken Jones, who has her own sleepless nights, worrying about the unknown. She can sympathize more than most with Julian's mother.

"You just think it's not going to happen to OUR kids," said Jones.

Berisford was due to return home on leave next week to be with his daughter on her birthday. His body is now being returned to the United States for burial with full military honors.