Military officials say five Fort Bliss soldiers have died in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan.
An Army statement Monday identified the dead as Spc. Kevin Cardoza of Mercedes, Texas; 1st Lt. Brandon James Landrum of Lawton, Okla.; Spc. Thomas Paige Murach of Meridian, Idaho; Staff Sgt. Francis Gene Phillips IV of Meridian, N.Y.; and 24-year-old Spc. Brandon Joseph Prescott of Bend, Ore.
They served in the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
Murach was 22 and in a statement Monday, Murach's family wrote, “Tom was a wonderful, outgoing man who lived his life to the fullest. He was very gregarious and kind, and was always quick with a laugh and a smile for friends and acquaintances alike. We couldn’t imagine that anybody could meet him and not like him."
Murach's family says that "Tom loved being an Army infantryman, and he never complained about the difficulty of his duties. He believed in the mission the Army performs, and he saw the value of that mission and the impact he was making in Afghanistan. But he also looked forward to becoming a civilian again after his Army service."
In another incident, a 30-year-old soldier from San Antonio died Wednesday after an April 27 roadside bombing in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Michael H. Simpson died at the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He served with 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
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