Army Pvt. Anthony J. Sausto

Died May 10, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died May 10 in Baghdad of wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire.

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Three more Fort Lewis soldiers killed in Iraq

The Associated Pres

FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Soldiers from Idaho, New Jersey and Mississippi are the latest Fort Lewis service members to die in Iraq, relatives and the Department of Defense said May 11.

The department also identified a second Idaho soldier killed in an attack earlier this week.

A 22-year-old soldier who spent most of his life in Atlantic County, N.J., before enlisting in the Army last year was killed in Iraq on May 10, just two months after being sent overseas. Pvt. Anthony J. Sausto, who was born in Somers Point and later moved to Hamilton Township, was killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad, family members told The Press of Atlantic City on May 11.

Sausto was a member of the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis.

Relatives said Sausto was a shy, quiet youth who “came out of his shell” when he joined the Army.

“He used to be so shy, and now he was so outgoing and confident,” said his sister-in-law, Mary Sausto. “It was like, out of nowhere, he decided to be a man.”

Army Sgt. Jason W. Vaughn, 29, of Iuka, Miss., died May 10 in Baqouba when an explosive detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis, the Defense Department said May 11 in a news release.

Sgt. Maj. Bradly D. Conner, 41, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, died May 9 near Al-Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. He was killed when a homemade bomb detonated near his vehicle.

Conner was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis.

A Fort Lewis spokeswoman May 11 directed inquiries on Conner to U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. Public affairs officials there did not immediately return a message by The Associated Press.

On May 6, six members of the base’s 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, were killed along with a Russian freelance photojournalist when a bomb exploded beneath their Stryker vehicle in Baqubah, northwest of Baghdad.

Sgt. Blake C. Stephens, 25, of Pocatello, Idaho, was also identified by the Defense Department on May 11 as one of two soldiers who died May 7 in Salman Pak, about 18 miles south of Baghdad, when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle.

Stephens and Spc. Kyle A. Little, 20, of West Boylston, Mass., were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning, Ga.

Conner and Stephens are the 26th and 27th Idaho soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.