Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles

Died April 12, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of LaPorte, Ind.; assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died April 12 in Baghdad of a non-combat-related injury. The incident is under investigation.

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Northern Indiana soldier dies in Iraq

The Associated Press

LaPORTE, Ind. — A soldier from northern Indiana whose brother was expected to be deployed later this year was killed in Iraq, his family said.

Army Spc. Jason Beadles, 22, of LaPorte, died April 12, but military officials gave family members little information about his death, they said.

The Department of Defense had not confirmed Beadles death April 13.

His brother, Josh, also served in Iraq, returning to LaPorte three days before Jason left, said their mother, Delona Beadles. Josh Beadles is scheduled to return to Iraq in September, about a month before Jason was supposed to come home.

Jason Beadles was a heavy equipment operator in Iraq. His mother says the Army turned him from a teenage practical joker into a respectful soldier.

Officials told the family it would take two to three days before Beadles’ body is brought to Maryland and another couple of days to South Bend. After that, it will be brought to LaPorte, where he will be buried.

Beadles is the fourth Indiana soldier to die in Iraq in the past two weeks. His death raises to 76 the number of people from Indiana to have died after being sent to the Middle East since the buildup for the invasion of Iraq began in 2003.