It was simple, brief and marked by military tradition. Three loud reports from a rifle salute. Taps and posthumous awards for courage.

The young man from Kalihi, 20 years old when his job with the Hawai'i Army National Guard took him to Iraq, died July 8 after a bomb exploded under the Humvee he was driving. He was the first citizen-soldier from Hawai'i killed in the Iraq war.

Yesterday's funeral at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific was a smaller, more intimate ceremony than the one that drew several hundred people Thursday evening. Still, the Punchbowl service drew 250 mourners — including three friends from Cariaga's unit, the 229th Military Intelligence Company.

Two uniformed soldiers carried Cariaga's ashes during the ceremony, gently placing them on a pedestal draped with pikake and maile lei.

Creighton Arita, ministry leader for New Hope Christian Fellowship at Diamond Head, told mourners Cariaga is now in a better place and that they would see him again in heaven.

"I'm sure that Deyson is looking down on us," Arita said. "If he could speak to us, he would say: 'Family and friends, I love you with all my heart.' "

Cariaga's mother, Theresa Inouye, sat bravely as the ceremony progressed. Her dark glasses hid much of her emotion. But when Brig. Gen. Vern Miyagi, commander of the Hawai'i Army National Guard, bent forward to present her with a folded U.S. flag and thank her for her sacrifice, Inouye's furrowed brow conveyed her anguish.

She held the flag tightly against her lap, patting it gently. Then Miyagi presented her with her son's Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals.

When the ceremony was over, Cariaga's friends spoke glowingly of the fallen soldier, a 2002 graduate of Roosevelt High School.

"He made instant friends," said Spc. Justen Laupola, who is home on leave. "He had a way of making everyone feel at ease."

Maj. Suzanne Vares-Lum, who oversees Cariaga's company in Iraq, described the young soldier as a cut above the rest. A big part of Cariaga's job put him out in the community where his outgoing personality helped him build friendships among the Iraqis, she said.

"To me, he is just the epitome of an excellent soldier," Vares-Lum said. "He excelled at everything he did. And he had a heart that reflected Hawai'i. You don't complain. You do what you're supposed to do. And you do your best."