A Colorado man who was a sergeant at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona has died while fighting in Afghanistan.

44-year-old Master Sergeant Randy Gillespie grew up in Coaldale, Colorado and was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

"He was full of love, he was full of life," said Randy’s mother JoAnn.

She says Monday she got the call every mother fears most. Her youngest son had been shot and killed during an encounter outside a base in Afghanistan.

"Rick and I talked to him the night, just a few hours before they attacked. I told him we want you to come back alive, be careful," JoAnn said.

JoAnn says she was used to her son being away, after all this was his 16th tour of duty, a duty he was very proud of.

"He believed in what he was doing, he supported the Air Force 110 percent," said Randy’s brother Roger.

And Randy wasn't just an incredible Sergeant, he was also an amazing husband and dad. He was the father of four kids, the youngest a 6-year-old girl he and his wife just adopted in December.

"He left with kind of a heavy heart because he wanted to be with her, I know that every time she called him, she told him daddy come home," Roger said.

And while he will never come home, the Gillespie’s know their hero will never be far.

"He'll always be with us, we know where he is, he's in a better place."

Gillespie served 24 years in the Air Force and was planning on retiring when he returned in April.

He was deployed in Afghanistan with the 755th Air Expeditionary Group.