RICHFORD, Vt. (AP) – Vermont Army National Guard Sgt. Joshua Johnson was a volunteer who put the needs of his fellow soldiers ahead of himself, the commander of his stateside unit said Sunday at his funeral.

Johnson volunteered four times, said Maj. Nathan Lord who assumed command of the 3rd Battalion of the 172 Infantry Regiment earlier Sunday at a separate ceremony in Underhill.

Johnson volunteered to join the Army, he volunteered to join the infantry, and after a combat tour in Afghanistan he volunteered for the Vermont National Guard. Then he volunteered for Iraq.

“Josh didn’t have to go. He’d already served his country once. No one would have held it against him if he stayed back. But he didn’t,” Lord said. “His country called. He picked up the phone.”

Lord said he didn’t think Johnson was motivated simply by patriotism or a desire to help bring democracy to Iraq.

“I submit to you that Josh volunteered to go into harm’s way because he didn’t want to let his fellow soldiers down. He went not for the romantic notion of honor and glory, but for the soldiers around him,” Lord said. “He knew that as a combat veteran he knew he had experiences that could help save other peoples’ lives.”

Johnson was killed on Jan. 25 when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by an insurgent rocket in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Johnson, 24, grew up in Richford and he graduated from Richford High School in 1999. He was remembered as a quiet, hard-to-get-to-know soldier who was always thinking about the welfare of the soldiers he led.

Vermont National Guard Spc. Charles Ames, of Bath, Maine, was riding in the same vehicle as Johnson when it was hit. None of the other soldiers in the vehicle was seriously hurt.

“It’s luck, that’s all it is. The whole truck team should be dead,” said Ames, who received minor wounds in the attack. “Nobody knows why nobody else got hit.”

Johnson was the 20th American serviceman with ties to Vermont to die in Iraq. A 21st Vermonter died of natural causes in Kuwait while training to go to Iraq.

Johnson was the third soldier from Alpha Company 3/172 killed since they arrived in Ramadi in July. He was the fifth soldier from Vermont National Guard’s Task Force Saber to die in Iraq.

Ames said the losses weren’t getting any easier for the soldiers.

They’re “not getting used to it, but they’re learning to deal with it,” said Ames who will return to Ramadi later this month.