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At Christmas time, Jaron D. Holliday spent plenty of time with his seven siblings.
"He spent a lot of time taking them places, doing things with them, showering them with gifts," said his mother, Kelly Holliday. "We didn't want to waste time going to an amusement park or sitting in a movie theater because you can't look at each other and talk to each other in those places. We decided to make memories by just being together."
Holliday, 21, of Tulsa, Okla., was killed Aug. 4 in Hawr Rajab when his vehicle struck an explosive. He was assigned to Fort Richardson.
"He loved people. He never met a stranger," said Kelly Holliday. "People were a very intricate part of his life. He loved life."
Holliday had always wanted to be in the armed forces, and at age 11 he began researching which branch he wanted to go into, said his mother. In 2005, at age 19, he joined the Army.
"That was always his desire - to go into the military and serve," she said. "When 9/11 happened, he was 15, and he said, 'If I were old enough to serve, I would.'"
He also is survived by his father, John.
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