The Monitor -- Spc. Alex D. Gonzalez, 21, of Mission, Texas, died May 6 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered small arms fire and a rocket-propelled grenade attack. He was assigned to the 43rd Combat Engineer Company, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

Saturday's funeral Mass was not the next rite of passage the congregation of Our Lady of Guadalupe had hoped to celebrate with Mission native Alex D. Gonzalez.

"We looked forward to marrying him, and baptizing his babies here, as we baptized him," Father Roy Snipes said.

Gonzalez, 21, was goofy and garrulous, a born storyteller who came from an enormous, close-knit family yet quickly adopted baseball and football teammates into his clan, as he later did with his fellow soldiers. He was always protective of his three younger sisters, his cousins and his friends.

He regularly volunteered for dangerous missions, said Brig. Gen. Frederick Rudesheim, installation commander at Fort Hood. "He knew that if he did not, one of his fellows would have to."

An explosives specialist, Gonzalez defused bombs left in the road by enemy combatants. He had already suffered minor injuries from the explosion of one such device - he was recovering from a leg injury and a hairline rib fracture when he was killed, his uncle Armando Rodriguez said.

When he got back to his base after missions, Gonzalez sent e-mails to his younger sisters, his cousins and his friends about his day and about his dreams.

"(He would tell) stories about the things he wanted to do and the places he wanted to go," said his sister Audrey Gonzalez. "He was full of life and joy."

Some friends and family members eschewed T-shirts bearing Spc. Gonzalez's formal Army portrait in favor of collages with photos of him making silly faces or goofing around.

His family had mixed feelings about such a bright young man joining the Army.

"As proud of him as we were, we were afraid of what could happen, and what did," said uncle and godfather Jorge Rodriguez.

Spc. Gonzalez was buried Saturday afternoon at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery in Mission. He was awarded the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

His dog, Lucky, was present at the Mass and at the graveside service. The 13-year-old mutt wore a red, white and blue kerchief around his neck.

"I'm sure Lucky was always so grateful every time Alex came home," Father Snipes said. "There's no grenade launcher that can destroy that."