U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom had mixed feelings about being in D.C., in which she spoke to her bofyriend about prior to being shot and killed while on the ground in the nation's capital.

Sarah Beckstrom's former boyfriend said she believed her deployment to Washington was "pointless" before she died after being shot in an ambush near the White House.

THE NATION LOST A SOLDIER the day we gave thanks for our blessings. And her family lost a daughter. And her unit lost a teammate and a friend. And one young soldier, who Sarah was standing in for that day, will carry a burden that love and leadership will have to help lift over time.

The hero West Virginia National Guard member who was killed after an ambush by an Afghan refugee in Washington, DC, was a former social justice worker “with a heart of gold”

The Webster County Veterans Auxiliary held a vigil for the third night in a row on Saturday to honor Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, the national guardsmen who was killed after a shooting in Washington D.

West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of Summersville, West Virginia, had volunteered to work on Thanksgiving so that her colleagues with families could spend the holiday

"My baby girl has passed to glory. If I don't talk to you don't be offend[ed] this has been a horrible tragedy," Gary Beckstrom posted just after 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Authorities said that the National Guard members injured in the shooting were part of a "high-visibility patrol" near the White House.