Army Cpl. Francis M. Trussel Jr.

Died May 26, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Lincoln, Ill.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 26 in Tahrir, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position.

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21-year-old Illinois soldier dies in combat in Iraq

The Associated Press

LINCOLN, Ill. — A 21-year-old soldier from this central Illinois community was killed while serving in Iraq, the Department of Defense said May 29.

Army Cpl. Francis M. Trussel Jr. died May 26 in Tahrir from an explosive, the Defense Department said.

Trussel was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, in Fort Hood, Texas.

A telephone listing for a Trussel family in Lincoln could not be found May 29, and there was no answer at a number for a Francis M. Trussel in Danville, about 100 miles east.

Also May 29, the Defense Department announced the death of Marine Sgt. Nicholas R. Walsh, 26, who died May 26 during combat in Anbar province.

While the department listed Walsh’s hometown as Millstadt, Ill., his family told the Belleville News-Democrat he was from Colorado. Family members told the newspaper that Walsh’s wife, Julie, grew up in Millstadt and that he had lived there briefly.

The couple have two sons, 4-year-old Triston and 7-month-old son Tanner.

His parents, two brothers and sister live in Fort Collins, Colo., along with his grandparents, Taylor and Rosanne Hall. Another grandfather, Walter R. Walsh, lives in Birmingham, Ala.

Walsh was assigned to the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, in Camp Pendleton, Calif.