HICKORY, N.C.-- From Iraq to Afghanistan, Marine sergeant Chris Eckard disarmed hundreds of bombs.
He had a highly dangerous job - and loved it, friends said when he was buried Friday in his hometown of Hickory.
Cool-headed and careful, Eckard, 30, had a knack for spotting and defusing explosives in war zones.
After four tours in Iraq, he went to Afghanistan in October and was headed home soon to his wife and two small sons near Jacksonville. He planned to switch from the battlefield to the classroom and teach other Marines about bomb-hunting.
But on Feb. 20, he was killed in Afghanistan's bloody Helmand Province, according to the Marine Corps. No details were available. Eckard was promoted posthumously to gunnery sergeant.
Hundreds came to Eckard's funeral at Hickory's Highland Baptist Church. He was laid to rest not far from the countryside he roamed as a child, pretending he was a Marine.
"That little boy playing soldier down in the woods - he's now my hero," said Eckard's uncle, Boyce Eckard. "Ever since I've known him he wanted to be a Marine. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He didn't pick the easy way. He was a patriot."
Growing up in Hickory, Chris Eckard rode bikes, played Little League ball and ran track at St. Stephens High School. Casey Mahoney recalled his longtime friend also shot pool at Newton's Rack-N-Roll and enjoyed movies like "Happy Gilmore."
"The dumber the movie the better," said Mahoney, 29, of Salisbury.
His last conversation with Eckard took place the day he left for Afghanistan. Mahoney phoned from the hospital where his wife was giving birth to their first child and told Eckard the boy's name.
"We spent 10 or 15 minutes catching up," Mahoney said. "Then we said 'Talk to you later' and hung up. I expected he'd be back in six or seven months. I knew he could take care of himself."
'Beyond proud'
Eckard joined the National Guard in 1998, the year he graduated from high school.
That August, during boot camp at Fort Jackson, S.C., his father, Navy veteran Steven Eckard, died in a crash on Interstate 40. Authorities said a teenager driving a stolen vehicle rammed Steven Eckard's pickup.
Chris Eckard made it to the funeral, but hurried back to complete training.
For the next three years, he worked odd jobs along with National Guard duties.
Then he joined the Marines.
"He finally took the step," said Eckard's brother, Chad. "He was beyond proud."
Chad Eckard said his brother started out as a combat engineer, but later became a specialist in improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
"He already had a little experience in that field," Chad Eckard said. "He went to Eglin Air Force Base to study and finished at the top of his class."
He returned to Iraq as an explosive ordnance disposal technician. In 2004, he put 240 bombs out of commission.
"It was very dangerous," Chad Eckard said. "But Chris considered his job very gratifying."
Chad Eckard said that in 2007 his brother took part in the Battle of Donkey Island near Ramadi, one of the deadliest cities in Iraq for U.S. troops.
For aiding a wounded teammate, Eckard earned a Bronze Star nomination, but was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal, his brother said. That same year Chris Eckard made staff sergeant.
When he came home, Eckard had little to say about his job.
"It was stuff he couldn't talk about," said Chad Eckard. "He didn't brag or act like Rambo."
'One of the best'
The Rev. Homer Greene knew Chris Eckard as a play soldier and a military professional.
"He was doing exactly what he'd longed to do and dreamed about for years," said Greene, who spoke at Eckard's funeral. "He believed in what he was doing. I remember he remarked: 'I don't want to be lagging behind. I want to be where the action is.'"
And that's where Eckard was on Feb. 20.
In an e-mail from Afghanistan, Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Thibault, who worked with Eckard, called him "one of the best."
"It has been an honor to have him as a peer and he will be forever missed," Thibault wrote. "... He was a loving and dedicated husband, devoted father and awesome friend ... and born to be a Marine."
