Weekend Edition from my town this morning:
In Milledgeville, Ga., hundreds turned out to pay their respects to a small-town hero with a larger-than-life personality. Following two tours of duty in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Alex French IV, a member of Georgia’s 48th Brigade, was killed in a suicide bomb attack Sept. 30 in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.
Local coverage from The Macon Telegraph and Union Recorder. Ten other soldiers died in Iraq and Afghanistan that week:
Army SGT Titus R Reynolds, 23, of Columbus, OH
Army SGT Edward B Smith, 30, of Homestead, FL
Army SPC Joseph V White, 21, of Bellevue, WA
Army SPC Kevin J Graham, 27, of Benton, KY
Marine LCpl Jordan L Chrobot, 24, of Frederick, MD
Army SPC Ross E Vogel, III, 27, of Red Lion, PA
Army SFC Christopher D Shaw, 37, of Markham, IL
Army SSG Jack M Martin III, 26, of Bethany, OK
Army SPC Russell S Hercules Jr, 22 of Murfreesboro, TN
Army SGT Ryan C Adams, 26 of Rhinelander, WI
Of the 1463 soldiers killed in Afghanistan, 881 were from the US.