Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member who died after she was shot in Washington, DC, on the day before Thanksgiving, had volunteered to continue serving there after initially dreading the assignment, according to her former boyfriend.
“I loved her to pieces,” Adam Carr told CNN. “She never deserved any of that. I always wished the best for her.”
Beckstrom had joined the Guard with the hopes of eventually working for the FBI, he said, calling her a “loving, caring person” who “had a huge heart.”
President Donald Trump announced her death Thursday evening, shortly before making his traditional round of Thanksgiving phone calls to troops around the world.
A second Guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition. His father, Jason Wolfe, called Andrew a “great person,” adding “he’s a fighter.”
“Please keep my son in your prayers,” he told CNN.
Andrew Wolfe’s next-door neighbor in Martinsburg, West Virginia, described the guardsman as a “great guy, great neighbor.”
“We’ve always looked out for each other, and that’s about being a good neighbor,” Michael Langone told CNN.