Maj. Brian M. Mescall was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom when he died Jan. 9, 2009, in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was 33. The soldier was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany. He was survived by his parents, John and Peggy Mescall, his wife, Chiun, and his son, Nathan.

“He died doing what he wanted to do,” Brian’s friend, Keith Tode told Seacoastonline.com.  “He was just one of those people that came into your life that you couldn’t shake; he was just the most positive person I ever met. You’d look and him and you would walk away wishing you were as nice as he was.”

The Travis Manion Foundation honored Maj. Mescall with five more local Fallen Heroes through our Character Does Matter program in February 2012 when we told their stories to inspire 600 sixth grade students from Cooperative Middle School in Stratham, N.H. To honor the legacies of their Fallen Heroes, students completed 2,294 hours of service, and held a Memorial Day ceremony for veterans and families of the fallen.