The hero West Virginia National Guard member who was killed after an ambush by an Afghan refugee in Washington, DC, was a former social justice worker “with a heart of gold” — who dreamed of joining the FBI, according to friends.

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who died from wounds she suffered during the cowardly attack Wednesday, had joined the military to “get her foot in the door for a career in the FBI,” her friend and former boyfriend, Adam Carr, told NBC News Friday.

Beckstrom had a “heart of gold,” according to those who knew the 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member. Facebook / Gary Beckstrom

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Beckstrom, of Summersville, worked at a health center for people with mental illness and substance abuse problems before she was deployed roughly three months ago, the outlet reported.

“She doesn’t even have to know you, and she’ll do anything for you,” said Carr, who said they stayed on good terms when they broke up last month after six years together.

“[She’s] one of the most forgiving people.”

Beckstrom loved the outdoors and can be seen in photos hunting, roasting marshmallows over a fire and posing happily with Carr’s brother’s Dutch shepherd, Major.

“She was the sweetest girl. She was hard not to love. You loved her the minute you met her,” Carr’s tearful mom, Eva Carr, told the outlet — adding that she was “like a daughter.”

 “[She had] a heart of gold.”

Sarah Beckstrom, 20, hoped to join the FBI after her National Guard stint. Facebook / Sarah Beckstrom

Beckstrom enlisted in the West Virginia National Guard on June 26, 2023, and was assigned to the 863rd Military Police Company. She was deployed to the nation’s capital in August, when President Trump ordered troops to the city for the so-called “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Mission.”

Beckstrom at first didn’t want to go to DC because she was worried about feeling homesick and lonesome, Adam Carr said.

“She hated it. She cried about it,” he recalled to NBC News.

But she soon began to enjoy the job and made military friends, who nicknamed her “Becky,” he said.

Beckstrom also worked at a health center to help individuals suffering from mental illness and substance abuse problems. US Attorney’s Office/AFP via Getty Images

Beckstrom eventually had the option to return to West Virginia sooner, but she chose to stay in the capital, he said.

In her downtime, she visited monuments and museums, took photos and reveled in learning about the city’s history. 

“The fact that she chose both to enlist in the National Guard and to work at a community behavioral health center is testament to her passion for helping others,” Marcie Vaughan, CEO of Seneca Health Services, which runs the mental health center where she worked before deployment, told the outlet.

Trump announced Beckstrom’s death Thursday, during a Thanksgiving Day phone call with US troops, describing her as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person.”

Beckstrom’s heartbroken father, Gary Beckstrom, wrote in a Facebook post that his daughter succumbed to her wounds, saying, “My baby girl has passed to glory.” Facebook / Sarah Beckstrom

“She’s looking down at us right now,” he said.

The other National Guard member wounded in the shooting is US Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, who  rump said was in “very bad shape” and “fighting for his life.”

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey later called Beckstrom brave and selfless for serving her country.

“Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve, and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation. She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard,” Morrisey said in a post on X Thursday.

Beckstrom’s heartbroken father, Gary Beckstrom, said Thursday he was holding her hand as she clung to life.

“She has a mortal wound. It’s not going to be a recovery,” he told The New York Times. 

“My baby girl has passed to glory,” he later wrote in a brief Facebook post.

The alleged gunman, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, faces a first-degree murder charge, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Friday.