Army Sgt. Alberto D. Montrond

Died February 13, 2006 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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27, of Suffolk, Mass.; assigned to Group Support Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed Feb. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations north of Deh Rawod, Afghanistan. Also killed were Sgt. 1st Class Chad A. Gonsalves; Staff Sgt. Edwin H. Dazachacon and Staff Sgt. Clinton T. Newman.

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N.C.-based soldier killed by land mine in Afghanistan

BOSTON — A U.S. soldier who immigrated to the United States from Cape Verde in 1996 and attended high school in Boston was killed in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Friday.

Sgt. Alberto D. Montrand Jr., 27, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed Monday when the vehicle carrying him and two other soldiers hit a land mine during combat operations, according to a military news release.

Also killed were Sgt. 1st Class Chad A. Gonsalves, 31, of Turlock, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Edwin H. Dazachacon, 38, of Belleville, Ill. Gonsalves and Dazachacon were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, at Fort Bragg. Montrand was assigned to the Group Support Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, also at Fort Bragg.

The Defense Department said a fourth soldier was also killed in the incident north of Deh Rawod, Afghanistan, but didn’t say how he was involved. Staff Sgt. Clinton T. Newman, 26, of San Antonio, was assigned to the 321st Civil Affairs Brigade at San Antonio.

Montrand leaves his wife, Krystal, and their two young children, Nazereah and Kevyn.

“(Alberto) had finished his first term, but he re-enlisted because he felt he had a duty to serve the country,” Alberto Montrand, a cousin, told the Boston Herald.

He recently had sat down with his father, Alberto Montrand Sr., to discuss his future, and expressed a great desire to stay in the Army, the father said. He re-enlisted last December.

While attending Madison Park High School in Boston, he was enrolled in the school’s ROTC program.

Montrand will be buried in North Carolina, family members said. His parents plan to fly there for the funeral.

— Associated Press