Army Sgt. Brian C. Karim

Died December 13, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Talcott, W. Va.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Riley, Kan.; killed Dec. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee while conducting combat operations in Taji, Iraq. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Michael S. Zyla, Spc. James C. Kesinger and Spc. Peter J. Navarro.

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W.Va. soldier among four killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A soldier from Summers County was among four men killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle, the Defense Department has announced.

Sgt. Brian C. Karim, 22, was among troops conducting combat operations in Taji on Dec. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armored vehicle, the department said Dec. 15 in a news release posted on its Web site. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Karim, a native of Talcott, most recently lived in Nimitz with his wife, Rachel Lasley Karim, and their 2-year-old daughter, Janessa, according to Ronald Meadows Funeral Parlors of Hinton.

The soldiers were assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

The other soldiers killed were identified as Spc. James C. Kesinger, 32, of Pharr, Texas; Spc. Peter J. Navarro, 20, of Wildwood, Mo.; and Staff Sgt. Michael S. Zyla, 32, of Elgin, Ore.

The deaths marked the second-worst day of the Iraq war for Fort Riley. Sixty-five active-duty soldiers from the northeast Kansas post have died since the war began in March of 2003. The single worst day for loss of life was March 31, 2004, when a bomb exploded under an armored personnel carrier and killed five soldiers from the post.

Karim, the son of Vera and Garland Adkins of Talcott, was a graduate of Summers County High School, a small school where everyone knows everyone, teacher Robert Mazzella said.

“Brian was a terrific kid,” Mazzella said. “He was kind, well-behaved and an A-No. 1 student. In a small school, it’s like a small family. It’s not like we have a thousand kids where you just pass them by. The students all become really close friends.”

Principal Lynn Crowder, who was assistant principal when Karim was in high school, remembered him as a kind, pleasant young man.

“It’s very sad and hard on us,” she said. “We have several local boys serving in the military, and he has a sister that’s a student here. The teachers have been very emotional.

“He was just one of the good kids. I’m sure this is really hard on his family.

“Any time you lose a loved one, it is tragic, but this is not something like a car accident where you just ask, ‘Why? Why?’ Brian died serving his country. He died with honor, and that should comfort them. [His family] can be proud.”

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.