BURLINGTON FLATS, N.Y. (AP) — The seven flags Army Cpl. Michael Mayne unveiled at his hometown park on Memorial Day in 2003 were part of his Eagle Scout project.

Those flags are now flying at half-staff, marking the death of the 21-year-old central New York soldier killed Monday by Iraqi insurgents. Two other U.S. soldiers and an interpreter also died in the small-arms attack.

Brian Long, who was Mayne’s scoutmaster, recalled the determination and work that went into the project that featured Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, Air Force and Merchant Marine flags arrayed around an American flag in Burlington Flats Memorial Park.

“He was serious about what he was going to do,” Long told The Oneonta Daily Star. “You know the Boy Scout oath: ‘On my honor, I will do my best: to do my duty, to God, and my country ...’ Well, he believed in that. He lived it.”

Calls to Mayne’s home by The Associated Press went unanswered Wednesday. Mayne was due to return from Iraq in May, according to friends.

He was stationed with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainright in Alaska before deploying in August.

“I think he just wanted to help his country,” said Tierney Johnson, a friend who first met Mayne in preschool. “He wanted to be able to come home and say, ’I was there, and I put my time into it, and I did it for everyone I love.”’