Ewa Beach resident JR Salvacion was nearly halfway through his yearlong combat tour in Afghanistan when he wrote on his Facebook page, “;I really miss my family, especially my son!”;

Pfc. Salvacion was killed Feb. 21 in Senjaray, west of Kandahar, when insurgents attacked his unit with a makeshift bomb. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. He was the 49th service member with Hawaii ties to die in Afghanistan since 2001.

Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony Church in Kalihi with burial to follow at 1 p.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at Nuuanu Mortuary and again from 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anthony.

He is survived by his wife, Joy; son Zildjian Jade; father Angelito; mother Milagros Robiniol; brother Sammy; and sister Richelle Ann Robiniol.

The Army said the 3,500-soldier 4th Brigade Combat Team is mainly responsible for a four-province area along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border with Pakistan. One battalion — the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, in which Salvacion served — is attached to Task Force Kandahar, a joint Canadian-American force in southern Afghanistan.

Salvacion joined the Army on Feb. 4, 2009. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with a campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and NATO Medal.

A memorial service for Salvacion will be held at Soldiers' Memorial Chapel at Fort Carson in April.