LAWRENCE, Mass. — Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario didn’t have to go to Afghanistan. She volunteered.

Before she was killed by a suicide bomber, Rosario helped more than 30,000 people flee the Middle Eastern country.

To Rosario, “service was a privilege,” said Gov. Charlie Baker, reading from a letter written by a military friend. Baker was among hundreds at a candlelight vigil Tuesday honoring Rosario, 25, who was killed last Thursday in Kabul.

Rosario was screening women and children as they were trying to leave Afghanistan in the waning days of a 20-year U.S. occupation at the time of the attack. The blast killed 13 U.S. service members, including 11 Marines.

The vigil in Rosario’s hometown 25 miles north of Boston was illuminated by dozens of small candles held by people sitting in the stands of the the aptly named Veterans Memorial Stadium at Lawrence High School.

Among them was Andy Jimenez, a father who knows the pain of losing a child to war. Army Sgt. Staff Alex Jimenez was captured May 8, 2007 by insurgents in Iraq. His remains were recovered more than a year later.

“I am here to be with the family,” said Jimenez. “They went through the same pain I went through and I’m still going through.”

If he had the chance to speak with Rosario’s family personally, Jimenez said he would stress that when Rosario died, “she was doing something that was coming out of her heart — something my son also did.”

He would also tell them to draw on the support of people of Lawrence.

“Lawrence is a small town but has a big heart,” he said. “At this moment it’s good for them to know they are not alone.”

Rosario’s picture was placed among four red, white and blue wreaths in the center of the stadium’s football field.

Mayor Kendrys Vasquez noted Rosario was known for “taking care of the most vulnerable.”

“At home she was the leader of the pack,” he said, adding that her life existed for a higher purpose in a world that can feel hopeless.

Baker spoke of a letter that Marine Capt. Austin Keeley wrote about Rosario, which was shared on social media.

In it, Keeley noted that Rosario’s name is listed as Sgt, Johanny Rosario, and sometimes as Johanny Rosario Pichardo, “but I knew her as Sgt. Rosie, and I had the honor of serving as her officer-in-charge for 15 months before she headed to the Middle East.”

He described how “Sgt. Rosie” managed a $659,000 military budget and received two medals for exceptional work during the time they served together. He added that she was a caretaker who, after work, had another job taking care of elderly patients with dementia.

And she never ran from problems. She attacked them head on, he said, which is probably why she was amid the chaos outside the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26.

“Initial reports indicate she was a member of the Female Engagement Team screening women and children for evacuation to the United States. … She didn’t have to deploy. She GOT to deploy,” he wrote. “To Rosie, service was a privilege.”

Congresswoman Lori Trahan praised all who came to the vigil for helping Rosario’s family heal.

“She lived her life in service to others, and made the ultimate sacrifice,” she said.