NEW YORK, NY July 04, 2008 —A gathering at an auto repair shop on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn today may look like a typical Fourth of July celebration. There will be barbeque chicken, reggae music and dominos. But it's more than just an Independence Day party - it's a celebration of a life that began today. WNYC's Kathleen Horan has more:

REPORTER: Sergeant First Class Joseph McKay said if he was ever killed during his tour in Afghanistan that he'd like the people close to him to gather and have a good time - rather than suffer and cry. McKay was killed in roadside bomb attack last week. He would have been 52 today. His younger brother mark says he loved sharing his special day with the rest of the country.

MCKAY: Always on his birthday he said, when it's my birthday the whole country celebrates. That's what he's been saying all the years.

REPORTER: The brothers ran the McKay auto repair shop together but Joseph was often gone, fulfilling his duties as a National Guard soldier. McKay served with Troop B, Second Squadron, 101st Cavalry based in Jamestown New York. He was born in Guyana and enlisted in the National Guard in 1977. He signed up full-time after the September 11 attacks. Fellow soldiers remember him as a calm under pressure guy unconcerned with rank. Staff sergeant Branch served under him two years ago when Mckay was his platoon sergeant.

BRANCH: He would talk to a private and ask him a favor - instead of just ordering them - if they can't do it right he would work next to them instead of just pointing his finger.

REPORTER: Sergeant first class Joseph McKay is survived by his wife, three children, mother and large extended family who live in Queens. He's the fifth National Guard Soldier from New York to be killed serving in Afghanistan in the last two weeks. For WNYC, I'm Kathleen Horan.