Shadowed by an American flag flying above the garage, weather-worn yellow homecoming ribbons drooped Thursday on the handrail to the door of the Mazzarella home in Blue Springs.

Inside, Michael Mazzarella spoke of his son Anthony as he planned a memorial service for the 22-year-old Army private killed Tuesday in Iraq.

“He was a real sociable person,” Mazzarella said of his son. “He was a little wiry guy in the best shape of his life, real buff. He would walk into a place and really know how to work a room.

“Anthony had a joy for life. He did what he wanted to do.”

Anthony Mazzarella, a 2001 graduate of Blue Springs South High School, was killed in Taji on the outskirts of Baghdad when his Humvee rolled over in an accident.

Mazzarella was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 13th Armor, 1st Armored Division after enlisting two years ago with a friend. He was the 54th soldier from Fort Riley to die in Iraq.

The memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the fort.

Keith Maxey, principal at Blue Springs South, said Mazzarella is the first graduate the school has lost in this war.

Maxey remembers that Mazzarella had been in Junior ROTC his freshman year and was “a good kid” who never got in trouble.

“He came a long way in high school,” Maxey said.

Pam Hahn, a high school secretary, knew Mazzarella better. He was her son’s best friend through middle and high school, and the two spent a lot of time in her basement imitating the band Metallica.

“He was a fun-loving kid who always had a smile on his face,” Hahn said.

“I remember he was one of the kids who staged a sit-out to protest the food in the cafeteria,” she said. “But for most of them, I think it was more about having an excuse to get out of class than it was about the food.”

Before deciding to go into the Army, Mazzarella had been an amateur musician who played with a small band, including a few times at Clancey’s Cafe & Pub in Blue Springs.

His older brother, Nick Mazzarella, said he never thought of Anthony as one to join the Army.

“He had never really showed any political interests one way or the other,” Nick Mazzarella said. “He was just young. He was a real party guy.”

When he wasn’t playing his guitar, Mazzarella delivered pizza for Pizza Hut.

“After the invasion into Iraq he talked about going into the Army … seeing the world … driving a tank,” the boys’ father said. “I felt a sense of pride when he told me.”

His son’s first commission was in Korea. After returning to Fort Riley in October, he came home many weekends — until his deployment in March — to see his father and brother.

Anthony’s mother died 18 months ago after a brief illness. The last time Anthony spoke by phone to his dad was on Father’s Day.

“He was going to come home in February,” Michael Mazzarella said.

“We were planning either to cruise the Mediterranean or just take a road trip. I’m restoring a 1963 Triumph TR3, and we thought we’d jump in the car, drive south and hang out together.”

But about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, U.S. Army officers knocked on the door.

“I knew right away,” Mazzarella said. “There was no other reason for two soldiers to be standing at my door at that hour.

“I had thought the odds were with us that he would come home in one piece.”