Four NC Guardsmen die in explosion, one Wilmington soldier

The military has confirmed that four North Carolina National Guard soldiers have been killed in Iraq, one of them from Wilmington.

Thirty-nine-year-old Staff Sergeant Ed Kramer was a Sunny Point and Wilmington firefighter in civilian life.

Kramer, along with Roger Adams and Robert Bittiker of Jacksonville and Juan Baldeosingh of Newport, died when an IED detonated near their in vehicle in Baghdad Monday.

The Department of Defense said the men were assigned to the 120th Combined Arms Battalion based in Wilmington.

Fifteen North Carolina National Guard soldiers have been killed in action since September 11th, 2001.

Ed Kramer leaves a wife and children behind.