It's a familiar story; a soldier is killed while he is fighting overseas, leaving his wife and children behind without a father.

And in the case of Special Forces Sergeant Mark De Alencar, he was no ordinary father either.

As well as being an excellent soldier, Alencar was also a loving husband and father of five.

In honor of his death, a family friend of the Alencars named Nikki Damron created a GoFundMe account to help ease the financial burden that was left behind.

Despite the campaign only starting with a goal of $15,000, it raised $200,000 overnight. It has now reached $325,000 one week later.

"Mark was a close friend of my husbands and my family, a hard working soldier and more importantly, an amazing father," wrote Nikki. "Our community has been hit hard in the last passing months and I just felt the need to try and do my part and help out his family.

"Joining SF was a huge dream of Marks, one he worked very hard to achieve. As a fellow military wife, I feel it is my duty to make every effort to ensure his wife and family are taken care of."

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