Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden

Died April 9, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Claremont, N.C.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died April 9 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Spc. Ismael G. Solorio and Pvt. Brett A. Walton.

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2 N.C. soldiers killed in Iraq by roadside bombs

The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two soldiers from North Carolina were killed by roadside bombs in Iraq during the past week, family members said.

Spc. Ebe Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, was killed April 8 with three other members of the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg. Pfc. Brian Lee Holden, 20, of Claremont, was a gunner with the 17th Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Carson, Colo., when he was killed April 9, his family said.

Emolo, who was born in Ivory Coast in western Africa, had two goals: to become a U.S. citizen and join the Army, said his sister, Sabine Wiggins. He achieved both before he died.

“This is something he wanted to do,” Wiggins said April 11. “He loved the uniform. He wanted to be a hero.”

Wiggins said her brother tried to call her everyday, and she last talked to him April 6. Emolo worked as a security officer at Women’s Hospital in Greensboro, where his co-workers said he was proud of his new citizenship.

“He was just a real class-act guy,” said Craig Shaw, who worked with him at the hospital. “He would go out of his way to help people, whether staff, patients or visitors.”

Emolo also is survived by his wife, Charlotte Brown, and a stepson.

Holden was looking forward to two weeks of leave in late April before he died when a roadside bomb detonated near his Humvee. He wanted to spend it with his 20-year-old wife, Amanda, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., said his mother, Leasa DeLozier.

Holden planned to leave the Army next year and start a family.

“We saved every dime for our future,” Amanda Holden said. “Now, I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life.”

Survivors also include his stepfather, Eugene DeLozier.