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Military features

PHOTO GALLERIES

Back from Kosovo

Alaska Army National Guard soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, were reunited with friends and family at the Alaska National Guard armory at Camp Denali on Fort Richardson on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009, after a year-long deployment where they supported peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions in Kosovo.

Obama at Elmendorf Air Force Base

President Barack Obama spoke to a hanger full of airman and soldiers at Elmendorf Air Force Base Thursday afternoon, November 12, 2009.

SOLDIER PROFILES

Alaska's Fallen Soldiers

Running list of profiles of Alaskan, or Alaska-based, soldiers who have died since 2003.

Bomb kills Fort Richardson soldier in Afghanistan

YEAR'S TOLL 19: He stepped on an explosive, the military says.

By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com

Published: September 8th, 2009 02:27 PM
Last Modified: November 6th, 2009 10:49 PM

A Fort Richardson soldier has died in a bomb blast in Afghanistan as the death toll of Alaska-based troops killed in action this year has continued to rise, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

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Staff Sgt. Michael C. Murphrey

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Staff Sgt. Michael C. Murphrey, 25, of Snyder, Texas, died Sunday in Paktika province after his unit was attacked by an improvised explosive device, the Defense Department said. He had gotten out of his vehicle to conduct a foot patrol and stepped on the explosive, according to the Army.

He was a paratrooper assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Fort Richardson. His unit is stationed at Forward Operating Base Sharana.

Murphrey joined the Army in October 2003, served at Fort Bragg, N.C., and came to Fort Richardson in April 2008. His family has been notified of his death.

As of Sunday, 19 Alaska-based soldiers have died this year, according to the Army. Thirteen of them were killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Eleven soldiers from the 4 th Brigade Combat Team have died in Afghanistan since the unit deployed in February for one year. At least five of them have died since mid-August.

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