Wake to be held for American killed while fighting Islamic State group in Syria

Mourners walk past a Hudson, Mass., law enforcement official, front right, as they enter Grace Baptist Church, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in Hudson, during a wake for Keith Broomfield who was killed in Syria while fighting the Islamic State group. Broomfield, 36, of Westminster, is believed to be the first U.S. citizen to die fighting alongside Kurdish forces against Islamic State. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (The Associated Press)

Mourners stand next to a Hudson, Mass., law enforcement official, second from right, near an entrance to Grace Baptist Church, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in Hudson, during a wake for Keith Broomfield, who was killed in Syria while fighting the Islamic State group. Broomfield, 36, of Westminster, is believed to be the first U.S. citizen to die fighting alongside Kurdish forces against Islamic State. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (The Associated Press)

HUDSON, Mass. – Friends and family will be gathering to honor an American killed while fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.

A wake for 36-year-old Keith Broomfield will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Grace Baptist Church in Hudson. He'll be buried Wednesday during a private ceremony following a morning funeral at the church.

Broomfield, who had no military training, is believed to be the first U.S. citizen to die fighting alongside Kurdish forces against ISIS.

Kurdish officials have said Broomfield died in battle in a Syrian village near the town of Kobani on the Turkish border. He joined a Syrian Kurdish militia fighting the Islamic State group on Feb. 24.

His obituary says "his heart" was in protecting "the innocence of Kurdish women and children."