"He wasn't the biggest guy, but he always volunteered for the biggest job. He had no fear," says Eteka Huckaby, a running back who played alongside McCaffrey. Huckaby, who later played in three Rose Bowls as part of the University of Washington's football team, says, "He was one of the toughest guys that I ever played with."

That zeal and fearlessness led McCaffrey to enlist with the California Army National Guard just days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. As part of the 579th Engineer Battalion out of Petaluma, McCaffrey shipped out to Iraq in March. It was there, in the town of Balad, where the Army specialist was shot and killed when his ground patrol unit was ambushed on June 21.

This sort of situation was not something McCaffrey envisioned when he joined the National Guard, according to his mother, Nadia McCaffrey. "He wanted to help if something like [9-11] happened again. This was the first time his unit was sent overseas for combat since World War II. He did not expect to be going there," she says. "But once he was over there, he tried to do the best he could."

"I really admired him for his determination, but he had that tenfold in compassion," adds Huckaby.

Nadia's son's tour in Iraq included showing his characteristic consideration for everyone but himself. She says he worked as a medic in temperatures that reached well into the triple digits, so when it was time to rest, everyone made a run for the shade. Not McCaffrey. "He would go around checking on the people in the shade, making sure they were OK and that they had water if they needed it," Nadia says. "After that, maybe he would rest a little."

She recalls many similar situations in her son's past, including one that she didn't look upon favorably at the time. After McCaffrey divorced his first wife, he borrowed an antique table from his mother to furnish his empty apartment. But when a friend came along who needed a table, McCaffrey turned over the antique to his friend—despite the fact that his mother wanted it back. "He said, 'Mom, you can buy another table,'" Nadia says with a laugh.

Patrick McCaffrey was born on May 26, 1970, at Stanford University Medical Center. He was the only child of Nadia and her husband, Robert, whom she met in Paris and followed to the United States. McCaffrey's entire childhood was spent in Sunnyvale, where he attended Bishop Elementary and graduated from Homestead in 1988. As a youngster, he played soccer and learned judo, but football was the one thing he would have taught his children—Patrick Jr., 9, and daughter Jannessa, 2. He is also survived by his wife, Silvia.

After attending De Anza College, McCaffrey began working at Akins Body Shop in Palo Alto, where he remained for 13 years. Upon his return, he was slated to become the general manager for two shops under the same ownership. Palo Alto was a long commute from his home in Tracy, where he relocated five years ago. McCaffrey loved his job, but his priority was affording a house for his family.

"The guy had the biggest heart," Huckaby says. "He was one of the most gracious people you'd ever meet."

Before McCaffrey left for Iraq, he made his mother promise to take care of his wife and children, so Nadia moved to Tracy from Sunnyvale. His father remained in Sunnyvale, but will likely move soon. "He would call every two days because he was worried about us," Nadia says. She adds that communication lines were so bad that her son often waited in lines for more than two hours.

The last time she spoke to him was through a video link via computer on Father's Day. Nadia, her daughter-in-law and grandchildren trooped to Petaluma to speak to McCaffrey over the Internet. But at that point, two days before her son's death, Nadia knew there was something wrong. "He was so overjoyed to see us, but I just knew. I was sure I would never see him again," she says.

Since word of McCaffrey's death has spread—Nadia has appeared on Good Morning America and KTVU's Mornings on Two—she has heard from a number of his friends and her own Sunnyvale neighbors, who are also devastated at the news. "He touched people in this special way," Nadia says. "I don't know how he did that."

She remembers her son best in a photograph taken just an hour before his death. "He's sitting on his Humvee, beaming, holding flowers that local children had given him," she says. She's posted the picture at the website she hosts for her nonprofit organization, www.changingthefaceofdeath.org.

Huckaby hadn't seen McCaffrey since before he shipped out, but says his football buddy was the type of guy with whom he always made sure to keep in contact. He compares McCaffrey to Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals football player who was killed in Afghanistan, because both were willing to take on anything, even if they weren't the best candidates for the job. "I always knew Patrick as the guy who would sacrifice himself for the betterment of the people around him," Huckaby says. "I'm heartbroken that's how it ended up."

Services were held in Tracy and Livermore, with interment in Oceanside. McCaffrey posthumously received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. His coworkers at Akins Body Shop are keeping the memorials going with a remembrance scrapbook and voice message bank that have been set up at the shop's Palo Alto location.

They have also set up a trust fund for McCaffrey's two children.

To donate to the Patrick McCaffrey Memorial Fund, contact Citibank West, 2401 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Donations can also be sent to the Akins Body Shop at 2901 Park Blvd., Palo Alto, CA 94306.