Army Staff Sgt. Michael S. Zyla

Died December 13, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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32, of Elgin, Ore.; 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 Sgt. Brian C. Karim, Spc. James C. Kesinger and Spc. Peter J. Navarro.

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Oregon soldier among four killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — A soldier from the eastern Oregon town of Elgin was among four men killed in an attack in Taji, Iraq, the Department of Defense said.

Staff Sgt. Michael S. Zyla, 32, and a group of other soldiers were conducting combat operations Dec. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee, the department said on its Web site Dec. 14.

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 Sgt. Brian C. Karim, 22, of Talcott, W. Va.; Spc. James C. Kesinger, 32, of Pharr, Texas; and Spc. Peter J. Navarro, 20, of Wildwood, Mo.

Zyla grew up in Michigan and Colorado and moved to La Grande in the mid-1990s after serving in the Marines. He later married Teresa Campbell and the couple moved to Elgin, a city of less than 2,000 residents in Union County.

Zyla worked at a sawmill from 1998 to 2002, his mother-in-law, Doree Hightower of Elgin, told The Oregonian newspaper.

“He was just a nice person, a happy person,” she said. “He loved cars and mechanics. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.”