HAWTHORNE, Calif. — As a trainer in Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Tommy McGee, 23, struggled at first to assert himself next to louder colleagues.

“He was having a hard time because his style of sergeant training is a little bit different than most,” said his mother, Sylvia McGee of Hawthorne. “He’s not a yeller or a screamer, and a lot of them are.”

But he soon became an effective trainer and earned the respect of his fellow trainers, she said.

He died July 6 from injuries caused by a roadside bomb in Wazi Khwa, Afghanistan, leaving his unit with a void, said his mother.

“A lot of soldiers talked about him,” she said. “He’s very respected.”

McGee wanted to join the military after the terrorist attacks in New York but his mother was opposed. He instead took college courses in hope of becoming a police officer and then joined the National Guard and went to Kosovo.

In early 2006, he joined the Army and was sent to Afghanistan.

McGee participated in the Junior ROTC program in high school, where Lt. Col. Ken Falasco remembered him as dependable.

“When you asked him to do something, it was done,” he said. “You didn’t have to follow him around.”

He was recalled as level-headed and generous.

In Afghanistan he gave up his phone time so married colleagues could call their wives.

“It was harder on us, but we understood,” said his mother.

McGee is also survived by his father, Tom McGee, and his brother Corey, 19.