Army Staff Sgt. Eric S. Holman

Died August 15, 2012 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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39, of Evans City, Pa.; assigned to 192nd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group, 20th Support Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Aug. 15 in Godali, Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device.

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Pa. soldier killed in Afghanistan remembered

The Associated Press

RENFREW, Pa. — A soldier from western Pennsylvania who was killed in Afghanistan last week is being remembered by relatives as a motivated and patriotic man who was a good son and father.

The Defense Department said Friday that 39-year-old Staff Sgt. Eric Holman of Evans City was killed by an improvised explosive device on Wednesday in Ghazni province.

His father, David, of Forward Township, Butler County, told KDKA-TV that his son was a bomb disposal specialist who loved his job.

“He loved his country,” David Holman said. “He was very patriotic and he just felt that he needed to do what he needed to do, and he wanted to have an impact.”

His stepmother, Jan Holman, told the Pittsburg Post-Gazette that Eric joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He served with the 82nd Airborne Division and became a member of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team, which became “like a family” for him, she said.

“He had planned to make the Army a career,” Jan Holman said. “He liked everything about it.”

David Holman said his son recently purchased an airplane and was planning to take flying lessons when he got home next month. He said he and his son, who leaves behind a 7-year-old son of his own, talked every week.

“He was an incredible guy. He achieved so many things in his life,” David Holman said. “He was a good son; he was a good father.”