Anchorage Daily News

A Fort Richardson paratrooper was killed in Iraq when his unit came under attack by insurgents' small-arms fire, the U.S. Army said Monday.

The officer, 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, died Sunday near Al Busayifi, Iraq, officials said.

Martin, of Ward, Ark., was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.

His family, speaking through an Army casualty assistance officer, said they were not ready to talk about his death Monday.

Martin is the 53rd Fort Richardson soldier to be killed in Iraq, spokesman Capt. Richard Hyde said.

As of Monday at least 3,828 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.