BRADENTON — Spc. 4 Patrick L. Lay II, one of Bradenton’s native sons, was killed Thursday while on combat operations in Afghanistan.

He was a decorated soldier and a proven leader who was viewed by all as “the All-American Boy.”

Lay, who was only 21, died from injuries he sustained in an IED strike, according to his mother Stefenie Hernandez, also of Bradenton. She was told little else about the circumstances of her son’s death.

“My son gave his life for his country so we can live free and continue to have what we have,” Hernandez said. “He was fun-loving. He liked to joke. He was a very, very sweet child.”

Family and friends flocked to her home Friday.

The dining room table was covered with photos of Patrick in uniform. Nearby was the camouflage purse Lay sent to his mom before he deployed, bearing his division patch, unit crest and a name tag from his ACUs.

Family and friends shared hugs, tears and memories of Patrick, all the while trying to steel his mother’s resolve for the arduous journey she now faces.

Hernandez is traveling today to Dover, Del., to watch as six soldiers carry her son down the tail ramp of an Air Force jet into the military’s busiest morgue.

Spc. 4 Lay was an infantryman assigned to the Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division, located in Ft. Drum, N.Y. He was scheduled to possibly rotate home in a few months.

He was engaged to marry his high school sweetheart Joann Steiff, also 21, in August next year.

Patrick enjoyed fishing for bass with his grandfather and hunting wild hogs, his mother said.

“He was the very definition of a momma’s boy,” she said. “He was very protective of me.”

Joann says she was 15 when she knew Patrick Lay was the man she wanted to marry.

“Before he got deployed, he loved the Army,” she said. But her fiancé did not like Afghanistan.

“He hated it,” she said. “He wanted to come home.”

Everyone who knew Patrick remarked about the incredible loss to the community because of the young man’s stellar potential. Many say he was the real “All American Boy.”

Patrick gave up a full-ride football scholarship to join the Army.

“The first thing that came to mind was it really sucks to lose such a good person who could have benefited society here in this state,” said Adam Butler, Lay’s former offensive line coach at Braden River High School. “We lost a really good person who could have really made a difference here when he got back.”

Justin Mayhugh was a friend and high school football teammate.

“Patrick was the type of guy to give out a helping hand to those in need — an all-around all-American kid,” Mayhugh said. “Our country was privileged to have him in the Army. Me knowing Patrick like I did, I know he gave it his all.”

Survivors include two brothers and two sisters, including Nikki Lay, who’s just 15 months older.

“I lost one of the closest people to me,” Nikki said. “He gave me a bouquet of pink roses for my high school graduation. My grandma gave me a bouquet of pink roses when I graduated college, because Patrick was deployed. It made me feel like he was still here.”

Patrick Lay Sr. said his son “loved life and lived it to the fullest.”

“He was a natural born leader. People followed him,” Patrick’s father said. “He left a 9-year-old half-brother who is devastated, who looked upon him as an idol.”

The elder Lay said his fondest memory of his son was his smile, which blossomed whenever his fiancé was around.

“Joann — she made him smile,” Lay said. “He really loved her, and he really loved his mother.”

Joann’s friends are gathering around her for support, said Lindsay Pence, 21, a former classmate at Braden River High.

“It’s gonna be tough, but we’ll be here for her,” she said.

Pence remembers Patrick best for his sense of humor.

“He would always get me in trouble,” she recalled. “He was always the class clown. In ag, he’d mess around with the cows or the pigs or the water hose. His sense of humor was ridiculous.”

A true patriot

Lay saw the Army as a way to make a difference, his father says.

“He knew he could get his leadership skills honed, and he knew the Army would take him places in his life he’d never be able to go on his own,” Lay said.

Family friend Tim Whitley said Lay was a natural soldier.

“He was just proud to serve his country, and he was very good at what he did,” Whitley said. “He enjoyed it. He never mentioned anything post-Army.”

Randy Maddox, a longtime friend, considered Lay like one of their own children.

“He referred to my kids as his brother and sister,” Maddox said. “He was the most loyal individual you’ll ever find.”

Maddox clearly remembers the day Patrick told him he’d decided to enlist.

“I tried to talk him out of it, to see if he was sure,” Maddox said. “He wanted to be the type of person people looked up to. He had a lot of friends and family, and he loved every one of us and would do anything for us. He proved that by defending us, and by keeping the fight off our soil. That was his way of protecting us.”

Pastor Jim McDaniel, who served at The Pentecostals of Bradenton for 25 years, has known Patrick since the day he was born.

“I spoke to him when he was thinking about” enlisting, McDaniel said. “He was excited to serve his country.”

“The closest memory I have of him was when he and his sister were playing with my two daughters. They were just best friends,” McDaniel said. “He was very respectful. He enjoyed having fun. He was just like a part of our family. I think we lost a friend. A lot of us lost a son.”

Heroism under fire

The IED attack that claimed his life was not the first time Spc4. Lay had been injured in combat.

“He was a previous Purple Heart recipient,” his father said. “This is the second IED attack he’s been in.”

Spc. 4 Lay and his unit, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, were featured in a May 30 story by Stars and Stripes, the military’s independent newspaper.

According to the story, Spc. 4 Lay and another soldier were struck by the IED blast, which knocked Spc. 4 Lay unconscious and mortally wounded his teammate.

Once he regained consciousness, Spc. 4 Lay ordered the medic to disregard his wounds and to tend to his comrade, who had lost both legs from the blast.

Spc. 4 Lay, according to the story, was Medevaced to a hospital on the same Blackhawk as his teammate. He stayed by his friend’s side, even at the hospital, until he was ordered to another room. A chaplain later told him his friend had succumbed to his wounds.

Spc. 4 Lay posted a brief tribute to his friend on his Facebook page days later.

“R.I.P. SPC Dennis, im gunna miss wakeing up next to ya. Lol,” he wrote.

Spc. 4 Lay’s Facebook posts provide a grim glimpse into the horrors he faced in one of Afghanistan’s most active provinces.

“You cant even begin to imagine what its like!” he wrote in June, after his unit had been in-country for three months.

“If you’ve never been here, you will never understand the things i do!” he wrote a month later.

Spc. 4 Lay’s family said funeral arrangements for their son are pending.