Army Staff Sgt. Robert B. “Brian” Cowdrey could feel prayers coming his way.The widow of the former Atwater Township resident, who was killed in combat Thursday in Afghanistan, spoke of the prayers in a story published in February 2010 in the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper in Colorado.“He tells me that he can feel prayers when he is in a situation that is getting a little dicey,” Jill Bollacker Cowdrey was quoted as saying. “The prayer helps me know that God has a plan for him.”The Cowdreys were high school sweethearts in La Junta, Colo., and had been married 17 years.Saturday, his family released a statement remembering the 39-year-old as a devoted family man and dedicated flight medic.His death “leaves a hole in our hearts that can never be filled,” the family said. “There are no words adequate enough to express how much Brian was loved, how much he will be missed and how the lives he touched — and saved — will be forever changed because he was on this Earth.” Staff Sgt. Cowdrey was on his fourth combat tour when he was killed in the Kunar province. He had served one tour in Iraq and was on his third in Afghanistan.Before his last deployment, he had an opportunity to take a job as a flight medic instructor at Fort Rucker, Ala., but chose instead to go back to Afghanistan with “his guys,” the family statement said.“The family he leaves behind is devastated, but takes some comfort in knowing that Brian … died doing a job he loved and was committed to doing,” it said.Staff Sgt. Cowdrey lived in Atwater for two years, and during that time, in 2003, he joined the Army. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C. His family lives near Fort Bragg, according to the Fayetteville Observer. Staff Sgt. Cowdrey was the father of three sons: Justin, who graduated from basic training last summer; Nathan, who hopes to attend West Point Military Academy; and Jacob, who “just wants to grow up to make a positive difference in the world, just like his dad and his brothers,” the family’s statement said.Father and sons loved playing Xbox together, the family said. Staff Sgt. Cowdrey also enjoyed hunting with his brother Quentin, driving his truck with the Seether song Rise Above This blaring, eating his wife’s cooking, taking his German shepherd for walks and spending time with his family. “He loved a good joke and a good story,” the family statement said. His family called him a servant leader and a true American hero. “He often expressed how honored he was to be able to aid our men and women in uniform when they needed him,” the statement said.Survivors also include his mother, Donna.Funeral arrangements are pending.Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or at jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.Staff writer Mary Beth Breckenridge contributed to this report.