Kelly D. Youngblood
Profile
Age: 19
From: Mesa, Ariz.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Incident: Army Pvt. Kelly D. Youngblood died Feb. 18 in Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds suffered during combat operations.
Died: February 18, 2007
Fort Stewart private killed by sniper fire
The Associated Press
PHOENIX � A soldier from Mesa has been killed in Iraq less than three weeks into his deployment there, according to his family.
Pvt. Kelly Youngblood, 19, died Feb. 18 after he was hit by sniper fire in Ramadi, the Defense Department reported March 2.
�Ever since he was a little boy, he wanted to be in the military,� said his mother, Kristen Chacon. �It was like he was answering a call.�
Youngblood, who attended McClintock High School in Tempe and Rhodes Junior High and Alma Elementary School in Mesa, enlisted in the Army as soon as he turned 18.
He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
His grandmother, Jean Herrold, said he wouldn�t give up on his dream of giving back to his country, despite her pleas.
�He just told me not to worry about him,...