More than 250 family members and friends met on Tuesday night to remember Clifton "Tigger" Yazzie, a 23-year-old Navajo soldier who was killed in Iraq.

Yazzie was nicknamed "Tigger" for his upbeat attitude. Relatives said he was always cracking jokes and trying to make people smile.

Marco Sanchez, from Acoma Pueblo, served with Yazzie in Iraq. "He was a great, caring guy. He was my best friend, the closest thing to family you got over there," he said, The Farmington Daily Times reported.

Funeral services have yet to be scheduled because the family doesn't know when Yazzie will be returned to the U.S.

Yazzie leaves behind a wife and two young children, ages 3 and 18 months.

Get the Story:
250-plus remember fallen soldier (The Farmington Daily Times 1/25)
Family mourns loss of Clifton Yazzie (The Gallup Independent 1/25)

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