Through her grief, Elden D. Arcand’s mother won’t focus on losing him at such a young age or turn her life over to grief.

After all, her son is likely “bouncing off the walls” of heaven. “I thanked God for Elden’s life, for giving him to me as a son,” said Kelly Freudenberg. “I thanked him for his death.”

Arcand, 22, of White Bear Lake, Minn., died Aug. 22 when his vehicle rolled over in Mosul. A 2001 high school graduate, he was based at Fort Carson. Pastor Mike Haseltine noted that Arcand was named for a great-uncle who died during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II and who, like Arcand, died one month shy of his 23rd birthday.

Kim Hetzer, a cousin, described Arcand as a young man who loved sports and the outdoors. “He loved to be outside,” she said. “He loved dogs.”

Arcand requested the assignment in Iraq, and had passed on a chance to come home on...