As a member of the US Army in Iraq, Bermudian Allan Miguel LuVince Mello survived the ravages of war. He wasn?t so lucky with cancer.

Mr. Mello, born in Bermuda on November 19, 1969, received 11 medals of honour from the US Army before he died on November 3.

?When you are a country at war and you have a child in the military you worry about unseen enemies doing them harm. You worry about mortar shells, sniper rounds and chemical agents that might take them from you,? his stepmother, Deborah Mello, said from the US yesterday.

?With each flight and each mission that took him far from us we worried. He was deployed in Iraq more times than should have been allowed. He served his adopted country faithfully for over 16 years. He did his job proudly, blessed to have a career doing what he dreamed.?

Chief Warrant Officer 2 (Chief WO2) Mello moved to the US when he was 15 and joined the US Army on March 1, 1989 a year later.

Mrs. Mello said her son always wanted to fly helicopters but because he was Bermudian the Air Force would not let him fly.

Undeterred, Mr. Mello joined the army instead.

His first assignment was at Fort Carson, Colorado, before being posted as Cobra Section Sergeant in the South Korea from July, 1991 to September, 1992.

After four years in the army, Mr. Mello joined the 160 Special Operation Aviation Regiment as a flight training section crew chief in September, 1993.

Mrs. Mello said the highlight of his flying career was when he was selected to attend the prestigious Warrant Officer Candidate School where he graduated first in his class in April, 2000.

Mr. Mello was then assigned to Germany.

One month after the Iraq war began in 2003, he was deployed to fly over the dangerous skies of Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A few months later he was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he learned he had cancer.

?His second tour was cancelled,? Mrs. Mello said.

?They tried chemotherapy, but unfortunately it was a very rare form of cancer.

?There was no task, battle or challenge that he didn?t face head on,? she said. ?He lived his life with a tenacity and intensity that would put most of us to shame.

?And with each accomplishment, he was humble and appreciative, acknowledging the influence of a much higher power fighting by his side.?

He is survived by his wife Dominica and two children, 11-year-old Blake and five-year-old Blaire, who live in the US with their mother.

Mr. Mello?s mother, Lynn Mello, lives in Bermuda but could not be contacted yesterday.

?He was the most kind-hearted individual I have ever known. He would give you the shirt off his back.

?He was loved and he will be missed,? she said. ?He?s been deployed to heaven, a battalion of angels awaiting his command.?