AUSTIN, Texas -- Friends and family are remembering a Texas service member who died in the line of duty during a mission overseas.

Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar of Austin was killed by a roadside bomb in northern Syria.

Family members said the U.S. Army photo released of Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar does not capture the kind of man he was. 

The Bronze Star Medal recipient was not just a well-decorated soldier.  Those who knew the 36-year-old well said he loved to laugh and was deeply loyal to his brothers in arms and his friends. 

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Veteran Brian Powell has known Dunbar for more than 30 years. They were neighbors and grew up together in North Austin. 

"He would stick up for people, you know, he really truly believed that trying to stick up for people that couldn’t or wouldn’t stick up for themselves was the right thing. That was the way he was his entire life," said Powell.

Dunbar was killed in action on March 30 from injuries when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle near Manbij, Syria. He was deployed there in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, a combat operation that works with regional partners to military defeat Islamic State militants. 

Dunbar was born on July 15, 1981 in International Falls, Minnesota and graduated in 1999 from John B. Connally High School, a Pflugerville ISD school in North Austin. He joined the military in 2005 as an infantryman and was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in 2013.

During his service, he was sent to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

"There was a lot of people, just based on the some of the stories he told me, that actually go to go home to their families that wouldn’t have, that he and his group of guys that he’s with that they helped," Powell said. 

Throughout his tenure, Dunbar accumulated a number of awards and decorations, but his friends and family want his legacy to go beyond the battlefield. Those who knew him well said he was a family man, who was loyal to his friends and fellow brothers in arms. Dunbar enjoyed the outdoors, going fishing, hike and biking.

Most of all, friends said he loved spending time with his family. He was proud of three children and often praised his wife.

"One thing that he had mentioned, on more than occasion, was how much respect he had for his wife and the fact that she would be home and she would be raising the children by herself," Powell said. "He honestly believed what he was doing was providing a better future of his children, for his family."

Powell said Dunbar was in town in January and attended his party for his 40th birthday. He said he never expected it would be the last time he saw him. They talked about how Dunbar was thinking about leaving the military. 

"He was an American hero," Powell said. "He was ‘Superman’ to me".