GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) – A 36-year-old Winterville man with ties to Maine who was killed in Iraq on Thursday was a man fueled by a passion for running and for helping others, friends say.

Capt. Chris Cash, an officer with the 30th Brigade, 120th Infantry in the Army National Guard, leaves behind a wife and two sons.

Army officials did not release information about Cash’s death to the public. The Army waits 24 hours before releasing information to ensure all family members are notified. Cash’s wife, Dawn, said she was informed of her husband’s death on Thursday.

Cash, a fitness trainer at a wellness center, had been called to active duty and sent to Iraq in February.

“Very cheery, very happy, always wanted to help people,” Jennifer Robiou said of Cash. “A 100 percent team leader, very structured.”

Robiou, 28, of Winterville, and two other friends, Karen Scott and Amber Vance, talked about Chris at a local coffeehouse. They recalled how Chris had talked with his wife via cell phone just a day earlier. “It seemed so unreal that it could happen,” Scott said. “She just talked to him (Wednesday) night.”

Chris Cash grew up in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, and was a student at East Carolina University, friends said. He was with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division for four years before joining the National Guard 14 years ago.

“He had that military mentality, but not in a stereotypical way,” said Scott, 33, of Greenville. “He liked to be in charge but he didn’t do it in a way that was offensive. I betcha his men loved him because he was such a great person. There wasn’t a negative thing about him.”

Robiou’s 14- and 13-year-old sons often played with Cash’s 13- and 11-year-old sons. The oldest boy in each family even ran in the same 5K race in September 2002.

In Maine, Gov. John Baldacci spoke to Cash’s mother and expressed his condolences Friday morning. He ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in Maine when Cash is buried.

“All of Maine joins with Capt. Cash’s loved ones in their grief. I offer my respect and gratitude to all of those serving overseas and their families,” Baldaci said.

More than 100 people were killed, including three U.S. soldiers, as U.S. and Iraqi forces fought with insurgents in Iraq on Thursday.