
AMERICAN FORK, Utah — A 23-year-old soldier from Utah County was shot and killed as he prepared to get off a helicopter in Iraq, his father said.
Sgt. Nathan S. Barnes died July 17 in Rushdi Mullah of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by insurgents, the Department of Defense said.
Four hundred American flags lined the streets leading to the Barnes home in American Fork. On the house, a banner read: “Sgt. Nathan Barnes: Returning home with honor.”
Barnes was deployed in August 2006 and was expected home around Christmas.
“We were going to give him a big hero’s welcome, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this,” sister Lisa Blake...