Staff Sergeant Mark Baum, a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade, was killed this past weekend during combat in Iraq.
He is survived by his wife and three young children.
The family got word he was killed as they gathered for his daughter Alexis’ sixth birthday party.
“Mark was the best husband, the best father, his children were his life,” Baum’s mother-in-law Mary Miller said Monday. “He knew in his heart that he wasn't coming back, he knew it, he just had that feeling.”
Before joining the guard, Sgt. Baum worked at the Bucks County Correctional Facility. It was Sgt. Baum's second tour of duty.
He has been posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.