Born into a family of Pentecostal preachers, Anthony Joseph Dixon was a restless spirit. He once climbed a soaring cell phone tower behind his Lindenwold, N.J., home on a dare and spent weekends racing his tiny Honda Civic in Philly. In the summer of 2002, he trekked to Florida—with less than $20 in his pocket.

Upon graduating from Overbrook Regional High in Pine Hill, he immediately enlisted in the Army, as did his friend from the wrestling team, Adam Froehlich. "I guess he ran out of adventures in small-town Lindenwold," reflects his mother, Jacquelyn.

Anthony attended boot camp at Fort Knox, and then was assigned to the 4th Cavalry of the 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany. (Adam was assigned to the 1st Battalion's 6th Field Artillery in Bamberg.) There, Anthony often rented a BMW to take to the Autobahn. But in February 2004, both friends were sent to Iraq.

Anthony was excited to use his technical training to help the reconstruction efforts. He was tasked with going out to salvage damaged vehicles—or people—after an insurgent attack. During one mission, he came upon a mortally wounded Iraqi man who died in the young soldier's arms. "It changed my life. It ain't about 'I'm Iraqi, he's American,'" he told his mother. "It was about life itself: how it is brief and precious."

Adam died months after being sent to Iraq when his patrol struck an improvised explosive device (IED)—the same fate that awaited Anthony during an Aug. 1, 2004 mission. En route to the patrol's destination, his Hummer missed an IED. Anthony, who was driving, attempted to back up, only to strike another bomb. Shrapnel came through the bottom of the hummer, penetrating Anthony's body.

"I'm glad he died instantly," Jacquelyn says. "When I think about how people come back from the war mentally scarred, well, Anthony was scared of that."

"People have asked me if I'm angry," says Jacquelyn. "I'm not. I believe God had an appointed time for Anthony, and that time ran out. Who am I going to get angry at? God?"

It was worth it "because he wanted to go. He felt he needed to go, and he will always be our hero. I feel like he sacrificed so that others may be free. He, all the others who have died, and even those who have come back, should never be forgotten."