A flag flies at half staff in the small Michigan town of Burr Oak.

Family and friends are preparing to honor a fallen soldier, born and raised in Indiana, who was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

Army Staff Sergeant Kristopher Dan Rodgers, a 29-year-old native of Howe, died Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.

He was just starting his second tour of duty overseas when the accident happened.

Previously, Kristopher had served a tour in Iraq. He left for Afghanistan in mid-June.

"[Kristopher's wife] Selina had just arrived from Texas to be with her family while Kris was over in Afghanistan, and she came home Saturday night, and Saturday night is also when we found out about Kris," explained Sheryl Evans, Kristopher's mother-in-law.

When Kristopher's mother got the call in Howe, Indiana, she did not want to believe that her son was gone.

"It's sinking in slowly," Kathryn Wiard says tearfully.

As news of the death of a loved one sinks in, Kristopher's family is remembering all the things he loved.

Like playing sports…

"Loved sports, loved his football, loved his Notre Dame. Loved the Chicago Bears, Detroit Red Wings hockey."

His fellow soldiers...

"He was so willing to help anybody, and his group of men were so important to him," explains his mother-in-law.

His wife Selina and their three-year-old son Kaden...

"Maybe his dad didn't come back, but we as a family are going to be here for him and Selina."

...and serving a country that he loved.

"He was proud to go, and he made sure that all of us knew that he knew he was doing the right thing,” begins his mother-in-law.

“And we were all behind him all the way," adds Kristopher’s brother-in-law Rich Ultz.

"A lot of people are having trouble with him being killed in the war, but that's what he wanted to do, and people need to understand," his mother explains. "It was his duty."

Funeral arrangements have been made for Staff Sergeant Kristopher Dan Rodgers.

Visitation will take place Thursday, August 28th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and Friday the 29th from 2:00 until 4:00 and from 6:00 to 8:00 at Hackman Family Funeral Homes in Sturgis, Michigan.

Funeral services will take place Saturday, August 30th at 1:00 p.m. at Sturgis Wesleyan Church.

Following the funeral, military rites will take place at the Lakeland Football Stadium in Lagrange.

Rodgers graduated from Lakeland in 1998, and was a star football player there.

It was important to his family to go back there to honor him.