MERIDIAN, Miss. — A National Guard soldier who died of his injuries after helping a wounded comrade was buried here Thursday.

Sgt. Robert Shane Pugh, 25, died March 2 after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was a combat medic with the Army National Guard’s 155th Brigade Combat Team.

“Shane was an expert in dealing with wounds that come when that happens,” said Maj. Gen. Harold Cross, adjutant general for the Mississippi National Guard. “Though he was injured himself, another soldier lay wounded next to him. Shane directed a group of primarily engineers on what to do to stop that soldier’s bleeding enough to where he could be stabilized.”

Cross said the other soldier, Sgt. Ellis Martin, needed 52 units of blood while en route from Iraq to a hospital in Germany. Cross said Martin has undergone four surgeries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and is now in critical condition.

Pugh didn’t survive his injuries.

“Shane was a beloved son, a devoted husband, a friend of his community and a citizen soldier,” said Brig. Gen. Ben Gaston, who spoke at Pugh’s service.

Pugh was a phlebotomist for United Blood Services in Meridian. He and his wife, Amanda, would have celebrated their first anniversary March 25.

“I remember Shane as being one of the most spiritual kids in my church. He was an example to other youth,” said the Rev. Calvin Farmer. “Shane Pugh did not die without purpose. Shane is a hero.”

The 155th Combat Team consists of nearly 3,500 soldiers from Mississippi, Arkansas and Vermont. The soldiers trained at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg and deployed in January.

Pugh is the fifth member of the unit to die in Iraq and the 25th soldier with Mississippi ties to die in the war.