Relatives of soldiers killed in a Monday's suicide truck bombing in Iraq identified some of the fallen paratroopers Tuesday. The military has not identified the nine soldiers killed in the explosion, the single deadliest attack for the 82nd Airborne Division in nearly 40 years.
The soldiers identified by family members include:
Army medic Garrett Knoll, 23, of Verona, Michigan. His grandmother told WLEW-AM in Bad Axe, Michigan, that Knoll had been serving in Iraq for two months.
Private First Class Mike Rodriguez, 20, grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Rodriguez's girlfriend, Caitlin Stone, told WATE-TV in Knoxville that he proposed to her when he returned to Knoxville on leave in January.
Stone said she learned of his death Tuesday after her mother talked to his mother in North Carolina. Stone said Rodriguez's family planned a memorial service Friday in Sanford, North Carolina.
Staff Sergeant Clint Moore, 27, of Benson, North Carolina was on his second tour in Iraq when he was killed. That's according to his uncle, Ricky Moore, who spoke with the Daily Record of Dunn and The News and Observer of Raleigh.
In addition, family members said First Lieutenant Kevin Gaspers, 26, of Hastings, Nebraska, was a member of the 82nd Airborne who died Monday, but it wasn't immediately clear if he was among the nine paratroopers.
Family members say they were told Tuesday morning that Gaspers died when a suicide bomber attacked his base and the roof of a building collapsed. Katie Gaspers, Kevin Gaspers' sister, said the family couldn't yet confirm whether he was one of nine paratroopers.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
