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Pentagon IDs 20-Year-Old Soldier Killed By IED In First Month Of Deployment In Iraq

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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The Pentagon has publicly identified the soldier killed Sunday in Iraq by an improvised explosive device.

20-year-old Army Spc. Alexander W. Missildine was a transport driver from 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Polk in Louisiana, Stars and Stripes reports.

He was only in the first month of his first deployment overseas to Iraq and died Sunday from injuries after his vehicle rolled over an IED in northern Iraq. His unit arrived in Iraq in September to train local Iraqi security forces in the fight against Islamic State as the terror group clings on to its dwindling foothold in Iraq.

Another soldier was wounded by the same IED attack, but managed to survive. The province where the attack occurred, Nineveh, is home to tons of hidden explosive devices scattered around the region.

Those explosive devices took Missildine’s life. He grew up in Tyler, Texas and enlisted in the Army in July 2015 and trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, earning the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge during his service.

Missildine’s death, which remains under investigation marks the 13th service member killed in Iraq or Syria since 2014.

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