Before he went off to battle, Kiehl asked Dallas television reporter Robert Riggs to pass a message along to his friends and family members: Tell them I've accepted Jesus as my Savior.

Kiehl's newfound faith provided hope for those at his funeral.

"It was solemn, but there was Christian joy throughout because of the decision for Christ that he had made," said Comfort Baptist Church pastor Jim Holt, who preached the funeral message.

While in Iraq, a man named James Kiehl came to me and said he wanted to become a Christian—this only 10 days before he would meet Christ face-to-face. I grieve for his wife, Jill, and her newborn son, Nathaniel. James won’t come home, and they will have to wait to see him on the other side. It has taken me some time to work through the stages of grief. It helped me to correspond with James’ dad and to meet with Jill in person. I met Jill when I went with a team of specialists to present a briefing to her explaining what happened to her husband.