Mary Jo Brostrom described her son, Jonathan, as a typical teenager from a military family who on one occasion got into trouble playing paintball on base.

But Army 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom of 'Aiea, who was killed Sunday in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan, had a depth of character that teachers at Damien Memorial School noticed.

Fellow soldiers, meanwhile, say that trait and the physical skills Brostrom possessed made him perfectly cut out for his job as a platoon leader in the mountains of Afghanistan.

"I love the guy to death," said 1st Lt. Carter Johnston, who became friends with Brostrom when they went through the University of Hawai'i ROTC program, graduating in 2006.

"He was just a wonderful guy. Loyal, and he would always give you the shirt off his back," said Johnston, who's training to fly AH-64 Apache helicopters at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Johnston said Brostrom, 24, died helping other soldiers.

"That's just the way he is. It was him. I could always count on him. He'd be running for you smiling. It didn't matter what it was. That was just the way he was. Always looking out for his people."

Johnston said the news of Brostrom's death is devastating.

"However, sometimes I've just got to reflect on the fact that he died doing what he loved — leading soldiers. He loved it," he said.

Brostrom and the eight other soldiers who were killed were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy.

The soldiers died of wounds suffered when their outpost was attacked Sunday by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from enemy forces in Wanat, Afghanistan.

Brostrom is the 240th service member with Hawai'i ties to die in Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait since 2003.

Brostrom's parents, David, a retired Army colonel, and Mary Jo, moved to O'ahu in 1999. Jonathan Brostrom has a brother, Blake, and a son, Jase, who turns 6 on Saturday and lives with his mother in Utah.

Mike Normand, a Damien teacher, said some students are memorable because they need a lot of help. But Normand said Jonathan Brostrom stood out for far different reasons.

"There's that few who are just outstanding people when you get them. They've already got that sense of honor and responsibility within themselves, and (Brostrom) was one of those," Normand said. "He took responsibility for himself."

If he didn't turn in his homework, he didn't bother making up a fanciful excuse for not doing so.

"He'd just say, 'I didn't do it because I was doing other things, and I take responsibility for it,' " Normand said.

Brostrom was a lifeguard at Pearl Harbor and played on the Damien golf team.

And while he grew up in a military family, Jonathan gave no indication he'd follow in his father's footsteps until he graduated.

Brostrom received a four-year UH ROTC scholarship.

"Jon was very professional, but he loved to have fun at the same time," said Maj. Christopher Sweeney, a former instructor of Brostrom's who now is a recruiting officer with the program. "He had a serious side, but he also loved to joke around, and that's what made him a joy to have in class."

Sweeney taught Brostrom during his junior year. Each year, a cadet was selected to attend dive school at Pearl Harbor, and Brostrom was selected that year.

"He was the one cadet, and he made it through there with flying colors," Sweeney said.

UH selected Brostrom to attend airborne and air assault school, and he was a "distinguished military graduate" in the top 20 percent in the nation, Sweeney said.

Brostrom is the third UH ROTC cadet to have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, officials said. 2nd Lt. Jeremy Wolfe was killed in 2003 in a helicopter crash in Iraq, while 1st Lt. Nainoa Hoe was hit by sniper fire in Iraq in 2005.

Seven years after the war began in Afghanistan, the Taliban-led insurgency is growing particularly along the eastern border with Pakistan, where Brostrom and fellow soldiers were attacked.

Johnston, who e-mailed and talked regularly with Brostrom, said the Hawai'i man had lost his platoon sergeant and a few other soldiers in recent months.

"He seemed to deal with it well. As well as you can," Johnston said. "A loss is a loss, but he was just a positive guy."

Brostrom was at a remote outpost away from the comforts of a big base with PXs, dining facilities, movies, weight rooms and other amenities.

"He laughed about (the conditions)," Johnston said. "I know one time he told me he hadn't showered for like 30 days."

Brostrom had excelled in the Army, earning his Airborne jump wings and Ranger tab, Johnston said.

1st Lt. Kenneth Lee, a Hawai'i National Guard soldier who also went through the ROTC program with Brostrom, said he "was a great soldier, a great cadet. Top of our class. Someone that we all just kind of looked up to as one of the best in the program."

2nd Lt. Nathan Esafe, who, like Lee, is an enrollment officer, said he knew Brostrom through the family. He met with Brostrom when he was back in Hawai'i for leave in May.

"We talked about his job. He liked doing what he was doing," Esafe said. "He said his job was tough, where they were at. It's a hot spot in Afghanistan."

Brostrom loved to surf and one of the photos on the family computer is of Jonathan and his son, Jase, tandem surfing with Diamond Head in the distance.

"He enjoyed his time here in Hawai'i, I know that," Esafe said. "He called it home."

"He just loved it. He loved the culture. He loved the people," Johnston said. "There's no other place he'd want to go home to."