TRUMANSBURG, N.Y. (AP) - Pentagon officials say a 24-year-old explosive ordnance disposal soldier from upstate New York has been killed by small arms fire during combat in Afghanistan.
Sgt. James Johnston of Trumansburg was assigned to the 79th Ordnance Battalion, 71st Ordnance Group at Fort Hood, Texas. He and Master Sgt. Michael Riley of Heilbronn, Germany, died in a firefight in Uruzgan Province Tuesday.
Johnston entered active-duty service in July 2013 and deployed to Afghanistan in March. His wife, Krista Johnston, posted Facebook photos of Johnston wearing Hawaiian shirts. She asked friends to wear one in his honor Friday as the family received his remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Krista Johnston said on Facebook that her husband "will forever be with me and his baby girl."
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