Baghdad shooting victim counseled soldiers

"He regarded it as very important work," said Bob Goodale, a friend of Springle's and director of behavioral mental health for the Chapel Hill-based Citizen-Soldier Support Program. "We all who work in this know that it is difficult. This is an example of how difficult."

A commander since 2002, Springle went by his middle name of "Keith" and had been in the Navy for 21 years. A Navy spokesman at the Pentagon said Springle left behind a wife and two children in Wilmington.

"It's heartbreaking to see how needlessly his life was taken, basically, when it's by a fellow soldier," Springle's cousin, Alton Dudley said. "He was such a fine young man. The world needs more of him, instead of less."