A Whitinsville soldier killed in Afghanistan Wednesday joined the Army and volunteered to be a combat medic because he wanted to "serve and be useful," his family said.
Spc. John M. Dawson, 22, was killed by small-arms fire while he was on an escort mission in Jalalabad, according to the Defense Department.
"He was a great kid," James Baxendale, his cousin and neighbor, said with a tremor in his voice. "Anybody would be proud to have him as a son."
News reports from Afghanistan indicate the medic was killed by an Afghan National Army soldier after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and a U.S. Embassy official in the provincial governor's compound in Jalalabad. There was no motive reported for the attack. In prior similar attacks, Afghan soldiers who are Taliban sympathizers and Taliban disguised as soldiers have killed Americans.
"He wanted to join the Army and serve and be useful," said Baxendale, who keeps a picture of him on his refrigerator. "He wanted to be a medic."
Dawson graduated from Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School and spent a year working at a job in Worcester, Baxendale said.
He had a warm smile and would cut his older cousin's grass in the summer and used to clear the snow from his driveway in the winter.
Dawson joined the Army in 2012 and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division as a combat medic, Master Sgt. Kevin Doheny, a division spokesman, said.
He was deployed to Afghanistan with the "Rakkasans," as 3rd Brigade is known, about three months ago, Doheny said.
Dawson is survived by his parents, Rhonda and Michael Dawson of Whitinsville.
Dawson's awards include the Combat Action Badge, Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Ribbon, Air Assault Badge, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Dan Magoon of Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, said his group's network of Gold Star parents will be reaching out to the Dawson family through the Army's casualty assistance officer — the soldier accompanying Dawson's body — to offer support.
"We have Gold Star families who have lived through it," said Magoon, whose group is building an Iraq-Afghan War Memorial in the Seaport District. Of reaching out to newly bereaved families, he said, "Unfortunately, we have a plan, because we've been through this before. We let them know, 'You're not alone.' "
The group's effort, involving a coalition of veterans' nonprofits and headed by Gold Star father Steve Xiarhos of Yarmouth, will also steer the family to financial resources they may need at this time.
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