Army Sgt. 1st Class Victor H. Cervantes

Died June 10, 2005 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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27, of Stockton, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed June 10 when he came under small-arms fire while on patrol in Orgun-e, Afghanistan.

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Stockton soldier killed in Afghanistan

Associated Press

STOCKTON, Calif. — A 27-year-old soldier from Stockton died while on patrol in Afghanistan, military officials said.

Sgt. 1st Class Victor H. Cervantes was killed Friday and three other U.S. troops were injured in the insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

Cervantes was a Special Forces weapons sergeant with the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C. He had been in Afghanistan since February.

His parents, Fidel and Nisla Cervantes, live just east of Stockton. A man who answered the door at their home Sunday said the family did not want to comment.

Cervantes enlisted in the Army as a cavalry scout in July 1996, according to a military biography. He began training for the Special Forces three years later and joined his current group in August 2000.

Cervantes was the 149th U.S. soldier killed in and around Afghanistan since 2001. The attack on his patrol was the third deadly encounter last week on U.S. forces in the border region near Pakistan.