Casualty officers arrived at Tiffany Blackwell-Cregger's Salem home Sunday to notify her of her ex-husband's death.

On Monday, Blackwell-Cregger's young daughter, Mackenzie, received a birthday card her father had sent from Iraq before he was killed.

"Your birthday will always hold special memories of the day you were born and loving wishes for all of the years ahead of you," the card said.

"Have a wonderful birthday Love Daddy."

Mackenzie turned 2 years old just three days after her father, Justin Blackwell, 27, of Paris, Tenn., was killed by enemy fire in Baghdad on Aug. 5.

Now, Blackwell-Cregger, 24, is desperately trying to find money so she and Mackenzie can be at Blackwell's funeral Tuesday in Tennessee.

"She's too young now to know, but she'll always be able to look back ... and see that he did die for our country and he did die a hero," Blackwell-Cregger said.

Mackenzie does seem to have grasped the fact that her father died.

"She actually told me her daddy was an angel," Blackwell-Cregger said. "It was very heartbreaking."

The Military Family Support Center lent Blackwell-Cregger money for plane tickets.

But Blackwell-Cregger, who is looking for a job, doesn't have money for the rental car she'll need to drive two hours from Nashville International Airport to Paris. She also doesn't have money for a hotel room for two nights, or for food.

"Everything happened all at once," Blackwell-Cregger said. "It all piles up at once."

Her family and her former in-laws are unable to help because of their own financial situations, Blackwell-Cregger said.

The military refused to provide arrangements because she and Blackwell were divorced as of June, she said. But the military will reimburse her, she said.

Blackwell-Cregger had lived in Colorado, where Blackwell was stationed, until a year ago. Blackwell-Cregger moved to Salem to be near her family after Blackwell was notified of his third deployment.

Debbie Parker of Roanoke, who at one time volunteered with the Military Family Support Center, is trying to help Blackwell-Cregger by setting up a fund for donations.

"She wants her [daughter] to know her father was a hero," Parker said.