U.S. Army infantryman Chad Groepper, standing with his wife Stephanie, held his baby daughter Clarissa Renee for the first time when he came home on leave from Iraq in late 2007. Groepper was killed in action Sunday in a province near Baghdad. [Click to enlarge]

Chad Groepper, 21, was killed in an attack in the Diyala province near Baghdad where he was serving with a U.S. Army sniper unit.

"Pretty front and center, but that's him -- straight to the front," his mom Darcy Groepper said of their son, who leaves behind his wife and four-month-old daughter.

Flags in Kingsley flew at half mast this week to honor Chad Groepper who was killed in Iraq on Sunday. The Plymouth County supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday calling for flags around the county to be lowered in Groepper's memory until the day after his funeral. [Click to enlarge]

Chad was an "adrenaline seeker" who loved his family and friends, tried extreme sports of all kinds and enlisted in the Army because it was something he wanted to do, his mom said.

She and her husband Dave and their two daughters learned of Chad's death early this week. The family is still working on funeral arrangements.

Todd Beelner of Kingsley, a friend who said he got to know Chad tinkering under the hood of cars and riding dirt bikes, said that once he got involved in the infantry, that was his number one thing.

"That was his mentality -- he was really determined. When he did something he went all the way out, did it all the way," he said.

Chad's mom said he enjoyed serving in the military.

"But when he was home on leave to meet his daughter for the first time -- the only time -- his unit was attacked. He lost a buddy," she remembered. "It was hard to go back after that, now that he had a baby."

His wife Stephanie and their daughter Clarissa Renee are living near Seattle, Wa.

Chad met Stephanie in Washington state while he was stationed there.

"They tell me it started on a blind date," his mom said with a laugh.

Chad's friend Beelner said the soldier's gusto carried over into his family life.

"The last time I talked to him, he pretty much just talked about his new daughter the whole time and how proud he was of her," Beelner said. "He was a great friend."

Chad graduated from the Kingsley-Pierson High School in 2005. He grew up with his family out in the country south of Kingsley and was always doing something.

"He'd be helping landscape or do the flower gardens, or building model farms in the garage attic, fishing, woodworking, and cars, cars, cars," his mom said. "And extreme sports: snowboarding, dirt biking, four-wheeling, scuba diving, anything he could get his hands on."

Chad's sister Denae said he was a "high energy" guy.

His friend Beelner agreed.

"He did whatever he wanted to do, no matter what anyone said," he remembered. "He was really outgoing."

Chad enlisted in the Army after he graduated from high school. He left for Iraq on Easter weekend in April 2007 and had been stationed there since.

"Where he had been lately it was hard for him to call," his mom said.

Chad was originally supposed to come home from Iraq in July, she added, but recently he'd been talking about getting home as early as May.

"That's what we'd been hoping for," she said.

Instead, they had two officers arrive at their front door.

"You never want to see that," she said softly.