His parents believed it was the rapes and beheadings by Islamic State fighters that prompted Reece Harding to die fighting for the Kurdish peshmerga in Syria.
But his mates think it was also the Queenslander's unselfish nature that would have been his main motivator.
"He was one of the most genuine people you would ever meet. That sounds like a cliche but it's the truth," said Gold Coast student Jordan Vial'l who was one of Reece's surfie mates.
"He had a real spark for life. Everyone liked him."
Among the surfers like Mr Vail'l, who used to share waves with Reece on the Gold Coast breaks, there was disbelief about the 23-year-old's death in a landmine explosion in Syria.
"I only just heard it through some of friends. We had no idea. I only knew he had gone overseas, but he was always going overseas. He travelled a lot," said Mr Vail'l.
Reece left Australia in May and sent a message to his family saying he was overseas doing humanitarian work.
But his father Keith said on Monday morning he had received a message instructing him to call an international number.
When he rang his call was answered by a man who told him Reece was dead, Mr Harding told the ABC.
A Facebook page purporting to represent fighters who have joined the Kurdish forces posted a tribute on Tuesday saying Harding who was known as Heval Bagkok Australia had died when he stepped on a landmine.
"He was in a sabotage battalion conducting night operations when a firefight broke out and our lion stepped on a mine which killed him instantaneously. Five other warriors were injured and are in hospital at the moment," said the the Lions of Rojava Facebook page.
The Facebook page said Harding had been with the fighters since May 4.
Mr Harding said he believed his son had been motivated to fight by internet reports about atrocities in Syria.
"With all the information that's spread about on the internet with people beheading people, killing children, raping and beating women I think it really did get to him in the end," Mr Harding told the ABC.
"He felt that he wanted to do the right thing and try and stop it in his own small way."
Mr Vail'l said he and his friends only knew Reece had been travelling a lot but had no indication that he was heading to Syria.
"I last saw him late last year. He had just come back from Europe and he didn't say anything. I heard through the grapevine that he was travelling ... I thought maybe he was seeing someone over there," he said.
Mr Vail'l said he last heard Reece had been working in the finance industry after injuring his hand in some sort of accident. "I think he lost part of his thumb and hand in an accident at work and then he worked doing portfolios or something."
He said Reece like most guys of his age on the coast, had enjoyed travelling and had often gone to Bali for holidays with his friends but had not mentioned the Middle East.
The death has prompted warnings from the Federal Government about Australians going overseas to fight.
"If true it does highlight the significant dangers that await any Australian citizen who wants to take part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Sky News.
Brisbane man Ashley Dyball (also known as Mitchell Scott), who is believed to be fighting with the same Kurdish militia group as Reece Harding, has paid tribute to him, changing his display picture to a photo of the two together.
He said: "We lost the most humble caring and positive man I have come too (sic) know. May he rest In peace."
Mr Harding is the second Australian to die fighting with the YPG forces in Syria. Ashley Johnston died in the battle between the YPG and ISIS in the city of Tel Hamis near the Syria-Iraq border on February 24.
