
APOPKA, Fla. — A soldier from central Florida was killed in Iraq, just days before he planned to come home and surprise his dad for Father’s Day, officials and family members said Friday. A Jacksonville soldier also was wounded in the attack.
Sgt. Arthur Stacey Mastrapa, 35, of Apopka, died Wednesday in Balad, Iraq, when mortar rounds hit his camp, according to the Department of Defense. Two other soldiers also died in the attack.
Spc. Christopher Powell, 24, of Jacksonville, was among the 25 people wounded in the attack about 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Mastrapa was scheduled to return to the U.S. on Friday with his unit, the Army Reserve’s...