One was so modest he did not tell his fellow soldiers that he had earned a black belt in tae kwon do. Another was such an outstanding parachute rescue medic that an Air Force magazine featured him on its cover.
A third serviceman among the seven killed Monday during a reconnaissance and rescue mission in Afghanistan was a former teacher who joined the Army because his classroom salary was insufficient to pay off college bills.
On Tuesday, their loved ones gathered in homes from Florida to California to remember them, to hug one another in tears and to watch the television images as the seven coffins returned to American soil.
"He did everything to his fullest; he always gave 110 percent," David Childress, a teacher said of his teacher friend, Spc. Marc A. Anderson, 30, of Brandon, Fla., who was among the seven.
Rick Crose, a Navy veteran interviewed in Orange Park, Fla., recalled his son, Army Sgt. Bradley S. Crose, the blackbelt, as a "patriot and a Christian."
The Pentagon said the seven soldiers were killed in combat that lasted more than 12 hours. Two MH-47 Chinook helicopters were the target of enemy fire as they flew low on a reconnaissance mission through icy mountainous terrain in eastern Afghanistan.
As the MH-47s that were ferrying in Special Operations forces touched down, one helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Both lifted off quickly and flew about a mile, where they set down again to check for damage.
That was when they realized a Navy SEAL, Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Roberts, was not on board. But commanders were watching videos shot by a Predator unmanned vehicle and saw his capture.
"We saw him on the Predator being dragged off by three al-Qaida men," said Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck, commander of the Army's 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y., who is in charge of the ground operation in Afghanistan.
One helicopter then flew back to where Roberts was lost and dropped off men to try to rescue him.
In addition, Hagenbeck, speaking to reporters in a press pool in Afghanistan, said that "a Quick Reaction Force of about 30 Special Operations troops" was also sent to rescue him.
Later, two more Chinooks with about 30 troops aboard touched down about a mile or so from where the Navy SEAL was last seen. One was able to drop off its force and depart, but the other was hit by machine gun fire and grenades and could not fly. As enemy forces advanced, the Americans fought back and called in AC-130 gunships that brought a withering fire of heavy machine guns and cannon.
Before those troops were rescued 12 hours later Monday, Roberts and six other Americans were killed while 11 more were wounded.
The seven servicemen included members of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Those from the Army were Crose; Anderson; Sgt. Philip J. Svitak, 31, of Joplin, Mo.; and Pfc. Matthew A. Commons, 21, of Boulder City, Nev., the Pentagon said. The Pentagon listed Crose's age as 27, but his father said he was 22.
The four Army soldiers were members of the First Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Hunger Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga.
The sailor who was killed was Petty Officer 1st Class Roberts, 32, of Woodland, Calif., the Pentagon said.
The Air Force dead were Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman, 36, of Waco, Texas; and Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham, 26, of Camarillo, Calif., the Pentagon said.
Cunningham, who was stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, was featured in February 2000 in a cover article in Airman.