West Jordan » Aaron Nemelka, one of 13 people killed in a Nov. 5 mass shooting at Fort Hood, was laid to rest Saturday at Utah Veterans Memorial Park.

At a funeral in West Jordan, where Nemelka grew up, the 19-year-old private first class was remembered as a loving family member, a compassionate friend and a proud soldier.

Affectionately known as "Buddies," Nemelka was a small and soft-spoken child whom uncle Jay Dee Blades remembered as "too cute for words" with his long, blond locks. A local librarian once mistook him for a little girl. He was pushed around at school and was the smallest kid on the soccer field, Blades remembered, "but he was fearless."

Blades always figured Nemelka was "destined to do great things."

Nemelka was preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan with the 36th Engineering Brigade, for which he was training to defuse bombs. Family members say he had been planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him during a short pre-deployment leave next month. An avid fan of the Utah Utes, Nemelka hoped to complete his tour of duty and go to the University of Utah, where he wanted to study architecture.

The memorial was one of several held Saturday for the Fort Hood victims. It came on the same day President Barack Obama vowed to hold accountable anyone who failed "to take appropriate actions" and may have missed "potential warning signs" about alleged killer, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

Hasan was a reported malcontent who expressed opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was hoping to get out of the military before deploying in support of those wars. American intelligence officials reportedly knew of e-mails Hasan had sent to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen but dismissed the messages because investigators concluded the communications were consistent with Hasan's academic research.

"We must compile every piece of information that was known about the gunman, and we must learn what was done with that information," Obama said. "Once we have those facts, we must act upon them. If there was a failure to take appropriate action before the shootings, there must be accountability."

Nemelka, who family members have said was a proud supporter of the president, was also remembered Saturday as someone who grew from a small boy into a strong man as he decided how to pursue his future. "A real man stands and faces his toughest decisions and he walks toward them," said his aunt, Kelley Jolley.

Maj. Gen. Robert Williams, who the Army dispatched to spend time with Nemelka's family this week, commended the young soldier's willingness to take on a difficult and dangerous job: diffusing bombs that have claimed thousands of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. "He wanted to save lives and he was willing to do so by putting his life on the line," Williams said.

Williams said it was obvious where Nemelka learned the values that made him such a good soldier. "It is important to be part of something bigger than yourself," Williams said. "Aaron came to this quite naturally because he learned it from his family and his community."

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