CALHOUN, GA. -- He may have been just 5-feet-7 inches tall and 150 pounds, but John Blair "was actually a giant," said Gordon County Sheriff's Department Detective Shane Parrott, a longtime friend and coworker.

The absence of the hugely devoted deputy and citizen soldier -- who was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend while serving with the Georgia National Guard -- has left a gaping hole in the law enforcement community in Calhoun, Detective Parrott said Tuesday, standing outside the sheriff's department Tuesday, flags flapping at half-mast above him.

"He was passionate about everything he did, whether it was shining his shoes, going out on a SWAT call or fighting the enemy in Afghanistan," the detective said of 1st Sgt. Blair, who mentored him at the sheriff's department for almost 13 years. "He made me want to be like that."

All department members wore black mourning bands across their badges to recognize the loss, and department officials plan to hold a special memorial service for 1st Sgt. Blair as soon as details about the transportation of his body are ironed out, Sheriff Mitch Ralston said.

The 38-year-old man affectionately known as "Gooch" had been with the sheriff's department from 1994 to 1998, working his way up from jailer to deputy sheriff, detective, SWAT team member and honor guard member, said Sheriff Ralston.

He left the department to take a full-time position with the Georgia National Guard, maintaining his relationship with his former coworkers through the Guard's counter-drug operations.

First Sgt. Blair also served as a reserve deputy between October 2006 and December 2008, when his Guard unit, the 1/121st Infantry out of Lawrenceville, was called to duty in Afghanistan.

He remained close with his law enforcement family while deployed, according to Detective Parrott, who praised the first sergeant for his motivation and bravery.

Staff Photo by Tim Barber Gordon County Sheriff's Detective Shane Parrott, center, shares memories of his friend and co-worker 1st Sgt. John Blair, who died in Afghanistan over the weekend. Lt. Chris Brown, left, and Sheriff Mitch Ralston stand in front of the Gordon County Sheriff's Department listening on Tuesday.

First Sgt. Blair's wife, Donna, was in Delaware on Tuesday to handle the arrangements for transporting her husband's remains, Sheriff Ralston said. Department members planned to welcome her back home Tuesday evening and were making sure she has a deputy posted at her home at all times until a funeral is held, he said.

The first sergeant also leaves behind two children and a 4-year-old grandson, Nolyn, according to Detective Parrott.

None of his immediate family wished to speak publicly about their loss Tuesday, according to the detective, but they were handling it with the kind of stoic nobility 1st Sgt. Blair would have wanted, he said.

"Strap your boots on and get back to work -- that's what he'd want," Detective Parrott said.

Lt. Chris Brown, who knew the first sergeant while growing up in Harlan County, Ky., agreed that he was a no-nonsense person who worked hard for what he wanted. Though 1st Sgt. Blair "came from nothing," Lt. Brown said, he got himself into boot camp between his junior and senior years of high school and launched a successful career right after graduation.

First Sgt. Blair never wanted attention called to himself or his good deeds, Detective Parrott said, but he never failed to laud others.

In the last e-mail the detective received from 1st Sgt. Blair on June 18 -- just two days before his death -- he instructed his friend to focus on the men he was leading rather than himself.

"It said, 'I can pray for myself while I'm over here. I need you to pray for my guys,'" Detective Parrott recalled.

But Chief Deputy Sheriff Robert Paris said he hopes community members -- even those who didn't know 1st Sgt. Blair personally -- will make sure to pause and pay tribute to his singular sacrifice.

Reports from the U.S. Department of Defense and the military newspaper Stars and Stripes indicate 1st Sgt. Blair died in a convoy ambush while trying to protect others in his unit.

"People talk about this stuff, but they forget that (fallen service members) are real people," Chief Deputy Paris said. "These are our friends."

TENNESSEE VALLEY CASUALTIES IN AFGHANISTAN

* Georgia Army National Guard 1st Sgt. John Blair, 38, of Calhoun, Ga., died June 20, 2009, after a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle in Mado Zayi.

* Army Sgt. David Stevens, 28 -- a Tullahoma, Tenn., resident and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate -- died April 12, 2007, after an explosive device struck his vehicle near Miri.

Sources: Associated Press, U.S. Department of Defense

TENNESSEE VALLEY CASUALTIES IN IRAQ

* Army Pvt. Thomas Edward Lee III, 20, of Dalton, Ga., died May 29, 2009, in Mosul of wounds suffered when an explosive device struck his vehicle.

* Army Cpl. Michael B. Alleman, 31 -- a 1996 Southeast Whitfield High School graduate who had been living in Logan, Utah -- died Feb. 23, 2009 in Balad of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.

* Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan W. Dean, 25, of Henagar, Ala., died Dec. 20, 2008, from injuries sustained during a non-combat related incident in Tikrit.

* Army Capt. Darrick Wright, 37, of Nashville -- formerly unit commander of the Army Reserve's 390th Engineering Company in Chattanooga -- died Sept. 17, 2008, in Baghdad of non combat-related cardiac arrest.

* Marine Lance Cpl. James M. Gluff, 20, of Tunnel Hill, Ga., died Jan. 19, 2008, in Ramadi while conducting combat operations.

* Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan M. Lankford, 42, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Sept. 22, 2007, in Baghdad of non-combat related cardiac arrest.

* Marine Lance Cpl. Will Chambers, 20, of Ringgold, Ga., drowned on July 1, 2007, just off the shore of Anbar province in a non-hostile boat accident.

* Army Pfc. Travis Haslip, 20, of Ooltewah, died May 19, 2007, in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

* Army Sgt. Shawn Dunkin, 25, of Chattanooga and Columbia, S.C., died Feb. 19, 2007, in Baghdad after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.

* Army Sgt. John Michael Sullivan, 22, of Hixson, died Dec. 30, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while on combat patrol in Baghdad.

* Army Sgt. David Weir, 23, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 14, 2006, when he encountered enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad.

* Marine Lance Cpl. Kristopher Cody Warren, 19, of Calhoun and Resaca, Ga., died Nov. 9, 2006, in a non-combat related shooting in Anbar province.

* Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Scott, 24, of Ringgold, Ga., died Jan. 23, 2006, in a non-hostile vehicle accident near Taqaddum.

* Army 1st Sgt. Aaron Jagger, 43, formerly of Rossville, Ga., died Aug. 9, 2006, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his humvee while on combat operations in Ramadi.

* Army Sgt. James D. Stewart, 29, formerly of Chattanooga and a Fort Oglethorpe native, died June 21, 2005, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his military cargo truck in Rutbah.

* Army Pfc. James W. Price, 22, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 18, 2004, after an improvised explosive device hit his convoy vehicle in Baghdad.

* Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, 22, of Dalton, Ga., died June 21, 2004, during an ambush in Anbar province.

* Army Spc. Marshall Edgerton, 27, of Rocky Face, Ga., died Dec. 11, 2003, when his camp was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Ramadi.

* Marine Sgt. Brendon Reiss, 23 -- a Wyoming native who is buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery because his wife is from Cleveland, Tenn. -- died March 23, 2003, in a grenade blast near Nasiriyah.

Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, icasualties.org, militarycity.com, Southeast Whitfield High School, newspaper archives.