Not even Michael J. Smith would have expected to go from suburban headbanger to Strike Force specialist fighting in the Iraqi desert. From Springfield, Delaware County, he was a short-tempered hard drinker, a musician who took guilty pleasure in the work of "Hevy Devy" Townsend, and a friend who would do everything he could for you.

In fifth grade, he met Chris W., who would one day become his best friend.

"Like all fifth graders," Chris says, "we made fun of someone different than us and it brought the two of us closer together."

Then in 1996, Mike's mother Nancy was diagnosed with a savage cancer that would take her in mere months. According to Mike's older brother, Jim Warrington, he soon dropped out of high school.

"He was always a little out there," explains Jim, "but after that, he couldn't keep things straight."

Mike grew his flaming red hair all the way out, and became a lead singer in a metal band. While bouncing around jobs for a few years, he started his LiveJournal, Too Fucking Scared to Create.

Then in November 2002, Mike joined the military. Many of his friends were confused. But,

according to Jim, Mike's family had a long military tradition: from grandfathers in WWII to uncles in Vietnam and Beirut. (He blogged, "

It's all well and good to be an idealist, but when you can't face the facts of reality, you're in for a harsh ride and endless disappointment and anger.")

By April 2003, he was a stone's throw from the DMZ in South Korea. There,

he met Oxsana, a Russian barmaid waiting tables at a nearby dive. After a short 10-day leave to attend a cousin's marriage, Mike proposed. They married that July, but had little time for honeymoon: By the time they wed, he'd received marching orders to support the siege of Fallujah.

On Jan. 11, 2005, Mike's patrol was checking out a building deep within Ramadi's casbah. A rocket-propelled grenade struck his Humvee's door and window, knocking out the gunner and killing Mike instantly. Mike became the Smith-Warrington family's first casualty in three generations, and America's 1,356th in Iraq.

Was It Worth It?

"I'm proud of Mike's service," says Jim, a National Guard mechanic. "Was it worth it? From a personal point of view, no. He was too young. From a professional point of view, I'm damn proud of him. Jan. 11 was the best and worst damned night of my life. He was killed, but I had so much pride and joy in him, for his service, and for all those memories of him."