Scott R. Ball
Profile
Age: 38
From: Mount Holly Springs, Pa.
Assigned to the 55th Brigade, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Scranton, Pa.
Incident: Army Master Sgt. Scott R. Ball died Aug. 27 at Forward Operating Base Naray, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit during combat operations in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Also killed were Maj. Henry S. Ofeciar and Sgt. Jan M. Argonish.
Died: August 27, 2007
2 Pa. National Guard soldiers die in combat in Afghanistan
By Michael Rubinkam
The Associated Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers embedded with the Afghan military were among five people killed in an ambush by suspected Taliban militants Aug. 27.
The ambush in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan killed Master Sgt. Scott R. Ball, 38, of Carlisle, and Sgt. Jan M. Argonish, 26, of Scranton, along with an active-duty Army officer whose name has not been released and two Afghan soldiers, the Guard said Aug. 28.
In civilian life, Ball was a state police trooper and Argonish a prison guard.
They are the first Pennsylvania Guard soldiers to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. Twenty-seven soldiers from the state Guard have been killed in Iraq.
“We mourn the loss of these dedicated soldiers and our thoughts and prayers are with the families,” Maj. Gen. Jessica L....