Sgt. 1st Class William "Kelly" Lacey, 38, was killed Jan. 4, 2014, by a rocket propelled grenade in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, protecting his fellow soldiers with unselfish heroism. A true American hero. He was serving his country in the United States Army. This was his fifth deployment and his second to Afghanistan.

Kelly was born Aug. 27, 1975, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to Master Sgt. John H. Lacey and Pam (Lacey) Joiner.

Kelly is survived by his loving wife, Ashley, whom he met on a deployment to Iraq in 2008, and his three year old daughter, Lily, both of Radcliff, Ky. He also leaves behind his father and step-mother, John H. And Karla Lacey of Laurel Hill, Fla., his mother, Pam Joiner, of Live Oak, Fla.; brothers, Pat (Diane) Lacey of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Shawn (Isabelle) Lacey of Loxahatchee, Fla.; step-brothers, Staff Sgt. Mike (Krystal) Thurber of Fort Bragg, N.C., Jake Thurber of Bonifay, Fla., Josh (Sara) Thurber of Pensacola, Fla., and a very large extended family including many aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews, as well as two brothers-in-law, Chad and Kyle De Long of Pinconning, Mich.

Kelly enlisted in the U.S. Army in January of 2003 and attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga., prior to being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. He has always been extremely proud of his service and especially of his Airborne status. During his service, Kelly was awarded Airborne Wings, Egyptian Jump Wings, three Bronze Stars, one of which has the "V" device, for his acts of heroism, that resulted in his death, a Purple Heart, numerous Army Commendation medals and Army Achievement Medals, a Combat Action Badge, three Good Conduct Medals, a Drivers Badge, Humanitarian award for his acts in Hurricane Katrina relief, and many other war time awards. He also fast-tracked all of his promotions to achieve Sergeant First Class in under 10 years.

Kelly looked forward to coming home from this deployment and was excitedly planning the next phase of his life. He adored his wife, Ashley, and daughter, Lily, and couldn't wait to take Lily to her first day of school.

No words our family could ever say or write can express how empty and sad we feel. The angels came far too early for him. We will brave the bitter grief that comes and we will do our best as a family. We adored him greatly and will miss his free spirit, competitive nature, hard-headedness, his playful sense of humor, and most especially the love he had for all of us. All of the traits that made him who he is, shine ever so brightly through his daughter, Lily, now. He was truly one of a kind and those that did not know him missed the opportunity to know a great man.

Sgt. 1st Class William K. Lacey died from injuries received during a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, according to the DOD release. His death marks the first combat loss of 2014 for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

There were three insurgent attacks Jan. 4 in Afghanistan, one at the military base in Nangarhar and two others later in Kabul that caused no casualties, according to the ISAF.

At least six insurgents, some wearing suicide vests, died in the base attack, which occurred about 8 a.m. when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden sedan at the gate.

Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a Nangarhar provincial government spokesman, said Saturday the gun battle between insurgents and coalition and Afghan forces went on for about 40 minutes. He said that no Afghan troops were killed or injured in the attack.