
LEITCHFIELD, Ky. — A Kentucky National Guard soldier killed in Iraq was remembered by his grieving sister-in-law as a friend and hero as his adopted hometown paid tribute Wednesday at a memorial service to the sergeant who was in the thick of the fighting.
William Alvin Allers III, who was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, died last week when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb about 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Allers, 28, had taken part in more than two dozen battles with Iraqi insurgents while participating in 150 combat patrols and 50 security escorts, according to Guard officials.
Crystal Wilson wrote a tribute to her brother-in-law for the memorial service attended by about 150 people at the American Legion Post 81 in this western Kentucky town.
Wilson, 23, was...