Army Staff Sgt. Leroy E. Alexander

Died June 3, 2005 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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27, of Dale City, Va.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed June 3 when his convoy vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, Afghanistan. Also killed was Capt. Charles D. Robinson.

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Soldiers killed in Afghanistan identified

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two soldiers killed in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan have been identified as residents of Virginia and New Jersey, the U.S. military said June 6.

Sgt. Leroy E. Alexander, 27, of Dale City, Va., and Capt. Charles D. Robinson, 29, of Haddon Heights, N.J., were killed near Urgun district in eastern Paktika province on June 3 when a bomb exploded near their vehicle, the military said in a statement.

Both were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Reggie Alexander told The Washington Post that his older brother, an Army Special Forces engineer, died doing what he loved.

“I guess I can be grateful for that,” Alexander said. “But so many people will miss him.”

Alexander had wanted to be in the military since he was a little boy, said his father, Ronald E. Alexander, a former Marine.

“I want to be just like you,” he recalled his oldest son telling him.

In October 2002, Leroy Alexander began more than two years of intensive training to become a Special Forces engineer sergeant. He was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group in June 2004 and then deployed to Afghanistan.

He returned to the United States on home leave in January. His wife, Marissa, is pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, his father said. Alexander’s mother, Felecia, traveled to Fayetteville, N.C., to be with her daughter-in-law after the Army notified the family of her son’s death.

In retrospect, Reggie Alexander said, he believes his brother sensed he might not return alive.

“He was scared to go back,” he said. “But he had to. He loved what he was doing. He was the best at it. He always finished at the top of his class. It was what his calling was. But he was also scared.”

Alexander’s awards and decorations include the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Parachutist Badge and the Air Assault Badge.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

A third soldier and an Afghan interpreter were also wounded in Friday’s blast.

Their deaths brought to 147 the number of U.S. troops killed in and around Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began in 2001, according to Pentagon figures.

After a winter lull, loyalists to the ousted Taliban regime and other militants opposed to the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai have ramped up their insurgency with bombings and other attacks.