HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The family of a Kansas soldier who died in Iraq remembered him as "the most gracious young man."

Cpl. Peter Wagler and another soldier, both members of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, were killed Jan. 23 when a bomb exploded near a tank they were riding on patrol in Baghdad.

Peter Wagler was buried Friday on what would have been his 19th birthday.

"When he was a little kid, he butted heads with everyone in the family," said a sister, Rochelle, 29. "But when he got older, he became the most gracious young man."

Wagler, one of eight children, was home-schooled and studied nursing at Hutchinson Community College before he enlisted in the Army at age 17.

His father, David Wagler, said his son had dreamed of enlisting from the time he was 5 years old, but he allowed him to enlist only after hearing a Sunday school lesson on the prodigal son.

"We need to hold Peter with an open hand," he said.

He also read a letter his son had written, to be opened only after his death. He called it a "typical Peter letter."

"Well, you probably opened this because I died or because I'm involved with a girl you disapprove of," the opening line read.

More than 500 people, including an Army honor guard from Fort Riley, took part in a memorial service that lasted nearly two hours at the First Church of the Nazarene in Hutchinson.

Afterward, a long line of cars passed between two rows of large American flags held by a group of more than 150 motorcycle enthusiasts and others. The caravan proceeded to Partridge Cemetery, a few miles from the family's rural home, where Peter was buried with military honors.
"We will continue to miss Peter," said Vanya Wagler, a brother. "His absence leaves a big hole, but we rejoice because he's with Jesus."

A Marine from North Carolina who became a U.S. citizen less than a year ago was killed in Iraq when the Humvee in which he was a passenger overturned, family members said.

Family members, including his wife, Christina, 19, gathered Monday in High Point to remember Barbosa, who was born in Brazil. She had last spoken with her husband Jan. 23 by cell phone.

"We just talked a minute; they were having a sandstorm and the phone was breaking up. He said he was doing fine. He had told me not to worry about him; he was going to come back home; he wasn't going to die," said Christina Barbosa, who was married to her husband for 18 months.

Barbosa, who became a U.S. citizen in February 2005, had joined the Marines on Dec. 31, 2002. His interest in the Marines dated to his years in Brazil, where his father and grandfather had served in the military, said his mother, Iraci Dunbar of Greensboro. The family moved here in 1994.

"He loved all human beings and he never wanted to hurt anybody," said Cpl. Felipe Barbosa's uncle, Dean Charlton.

"It is burned in my mind: The last time I walked with him, he said 'Don't worry about me. I'm walking with Jesus,"' Charlton said.

"He believed in the cause, but he knew there was a better way of doing things," Duarte said.

"Felipe was a follower of Christ with great distinction," said the Rev. Marcus Campbell, Barbosa's pastor at Conrad Memorial Baptist Church.