
CARTHAGE, N.Y. — An upstate New York soldier killed in Iraq last weekend grew up wanting to be in the Army, his family said.
Spc. James Gudridge, 20, was killed Jan. 6 in Baghdad when his vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb, the Department of Defense reported Jan. 8.
Gudridge had talked about joining the Army since he was a boy, said his father, Daniel Gudridge Sr. James Gudridge knew he would most likely be sent to war, but wanted to enlist anyway, his father said. He was eager to go on his first tour, which began in November.
“He wanted to be in the action,” Gudridge said.
James Gudridge enlisted while still...