The father of the 2005 Lawrence Central High School graduate killed this week in Afghanistan said he guided his son into the Army to get “a good start in life.”

“He loved it, he was gung-ho over there,” said Patrick Karch, who served in the Army himself for three years.

Sgt. Christopher Karch, 23, who joined the Army about two months after his high school graduation, was about a month away from coming home from his second tour from Afghanistan. He was killed Wednesday in a firefight in the Arghandab Valley when insurgents attacked Karch’s unit with small-arms fire, according to the Department of Defense website. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, which is based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

He was only 20 days from coming back home.

Patrick Karch was in Dover, Del, to receive his son’s body today at 2 p.m. He said he planned to bring the body back to Indianapolis for the funeral, but didn’t think his son’s body would be released until sometime next week.

He could hardly talk about his son, saying he called a good kid and said always had a smile on his face.

“I really thought he was just going to come back and nothing (would happen),” he said.

Proceeds from the SGT Christopher N. Karch bracelet will be donated to Legacies Alive.