Wednesday, August 10, 2011

** US combat medic from Georgia killed in Afghanistan

** Massachusetts to name street after Salem combat medic killed in Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN NEWS

** A Georgia combat medic is dead after coming under attack by insurgents lobbing rocket propelled grenades Friday. That is the word from WRWR (Gene Rector/August 8) which said Warner Robins resident Spc. Mark J. Downer, 23, died in Kandahar Province. According to the newspaper, Downer, who was based out of Fort Drum, New York, was part of the 10th Mountain Division of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. Downer, who deployed to Afghanistan in March of this year, joined the US Army in December 2009. Funeral services are pending.

UNITED STATES NEWS

** By way of honoring a US combat medic killed last year in Afghanistan, the state of Massachusetts has said it will name a street in the soldier’s home town after him. The Charlestown Patch (Kristi Ceccarossi/August 8) said the pathway, dubbed Sgt. James Ayube Memorial Drive, will be located in Salem. Ayube, 25, died December 8, 2010 after being attacked by a suicide bomber. A graduate from the university in Bunker Hill, he had an associate’s degree in sociology.