Army Specialist Jesse Pollard, 21.

On its Web site, the paper reports that family members confirmed that the Springfield native died in the crash.

"He was fighting for our American freedoms that we enjoy," Alan Dewitt, Pollard's stepfather in Ozark, told the News-Leader. "After high school he really got into wanting to do that. He prayed about it a lot before he joined."

Pollard was a 2003 graduate of Glendale High School.

Dewitt said his stepson was an Army Ranger aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk, one of two helicopters flying a nighttime mission.

Pollard's aunt, Sandy Kaufman of Springfield, told the News-Leader that her nephew was "a very tall, good-looking young man" who was eager to pursue a career in the military.

"He was a paratrooper who jumped out of planes and stuff," she recalled. "He said it was an adrenaline rush."

Kaufman said Pollard didn't know what direction his life should take until he joined the military.

"He just really embraced it," she said. "He'd come home and regale us with stories about jumping out of planes at night."

In July, Pollard returned to Ozark for a two-week visit before heading back to Iraq.

"We hadn't seen him in six months so it was good to have him back," Dewitt said. "He was doing what he wanted to do."

Pollard is survived by his mother, Patti Jo "Pj" Dewitt and sister Whitney Pollard, 19, among others.

Pollard played football and basketball at Glendale.

Amanda Orchard, who played softball with Pollard's sister at Glendale, remembered Pollard "as a real outgoing, fun guy."

"I had classes with him, we talked," she said. "He was a big, tall guy, real athletic."

Orchard said she was proud that a Glendale graduate chose to serve in the military.

"I think that's awesome, if that's what they have the heart to do," she said.

Lesley Noe, who graduated with Pollard, remembered his desire to do more than was asked.

"We both really liked 'Romeo and Juliet,' and in one of our classes we had to memorize 15 lines," she said. "We decided to memorize 150 lines. He was really hard-working and always wanted to go above and beyond what you had to do."