FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Friends of Army 2nd Lt. Mark Noziska laugh Wednesday night while watching videos of him on his Facebook page. “I think he would put a smile on anybody’s face,“ said Emily Smith, a close friend.

They said the 24-year-old was full of life, and always had a great smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sad or upset. Even if he was in a bad situation, he could turn it around and make you smile,” said Smith.

Noziska was killed earlier this week while on patrol in Afghanistan. A roadside bomb killed the platoon leader, four-weeks after he was deployed from Fort Carson.

“He was very patriotic and he felt like it was his duty to serve,” said Adriana Fink, a friend who lived down the street from him.

Noziska joined the Army after graduating from the University of Nebraska in Omaha. His family told an Omaha TV station that he decided to join the Army when he was a sophomore in high school after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Fink, who talked with him last week, said that Noziska even joked while he was in the desert. “I think his biggest concern was that he didn’t know when his next shower was going to be.”

All of his friends said that he was full of energy. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hike the Manitou Incline. “He could run up that thing like in five minutes, too, if he wanted,” said Fink.

Her husband, who deployed at the same time, called Fink to deliver the bad news on Monday. “It’s always seems to happen to the people that are the ones who try to cheer you up. Those are always the first ones to go for some reason. A lot of people loved him and he could have come back, “ said Fink crying.

Noziska’s family told KETV that he wanted to work his way up the ranks to General. Friends tell NEWSCHANNEL 13 that he was to be promoted to first lieutenant on Thursday, four days after his death.