Friends remembered Army Pvt. Eugene D.M. Kanakaole of Kihei, Maui, who died June 11 in a noncombat-related incident in Balad, Iraq, as a determined youth who overcame major disappointments in life.

Kanakaole, 19, was with the 87th Engineer Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, based at Fort Hood, Texas.

Friends said the 2007 Maui High School graduate had dreamed for years of joining the military. He was described as a determined, "resilient" young man who spent most of his youth in the foster care system.

"I'm proud of him and sad at the same time," said Donna Vida, program director of the Maui Farm, where Kanakaole lived for about a year after moving to Maui from Honolulu, where he was born.

Vida said Kanakaole was funny and well-liked at the Maui Farm, and was caring toward others in spite of the challenges he faced growing up. Kanakaole "bounced from one foster home to the next" for most of his life, and at one point was adopted by a Hawaiian family, which later gave him back to the state, she said.

"This boy had a magnitude of disappointment and loss in his life," Vida said.

Joining the military was Kanakaole's dream for years, one he talked about frequently, she said. Any anger he may have felt about his past seemed to be replaced by confidence and pride when he talked about his plans.

"It's almost like his career was his light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "That motivated him."

Kanakaole is the third Maui man killed while serving in Iraq. Spc. Jay Cajimat, 20, died April 6, 2007, when a roadside bomb exploded near his unit. Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor, 38, was killed in action Nov. 15, 2003, in a helicopter crash.

Kanakaole was born May 11, 1989, in Honolulu. He attended Kapolei Middle School, Wai'anae Intermediate School and Waipahu High School before moving to Maui during his sophomore year. He attended King Kekaulike High School, where he joined the paddling team and played football.

He moved to Kihei and transferred to Maui High School in the middle of his junior year, graduating in 2007.

At Maui High, Kanakaole was a member of the varsity football team and joined track and field, where he was a pole vaulter.

But his former track coach, Allen Kennedy, said Kanakaole was never able to compete in his event because the school wasn't able to get a pole long enough for his 5-foot-11, 195-pound frame. Still, he worked out at all the practices and attended all the meets, Kennedy said.

"He just loved working out with us, and we loved having him," he said.

Toward the end of the 2007 track season, Kanakaole took up shot put and placed eighth at the Maui Interscholastic League championship after just three weeks of practice.

"He surprised all of us and even himself," Kennedy recalled.