For Army Staff Sgt. Courtney Hollinsworth, of Yonkers, there was no greater love than family and country.

He was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007.

His mother, Hope Hollinsworth Coaxum, says he was a good person who wanted the best for everyone.

"I had my son when I was very young, so we really basically grew up together," she says. "We were very close. He shared a lot of things with me."

Hollinsworth Coaxum says her son wanted to join the service, do something for his community and make his family proud.

In some of the letters he wrote home, he would discuss being on a special mission and how he was doing things great for our country and "making a difference."

He told stories of being in a freezing forest, not sleeping for days, killing snakes and training with all kinds of weapons.

On Sept. 9, he was in Baghdad when he was out on assignment.

"An IED hit the truck that they were in, and a piece of shrapnel, although he had on the thing they have on their head, the shrapnel went through that and into his head," says his mother. "People say you'll heal from the death of a child, but you never get over that. That stays with you forever."

Hollinsworth Coaxum says she can still hear his voice that she so misses.

"Everything that I do, I do for my son to be remembered," she says. "Staff Sgt. Courtney Hollinsworth, he was our son, but he gave his life for the world, and I want people to remember that. He was ours but he gave his life for you."