KABUL, Afghanistan,None — A graduate from Crest High School was killed in Kabul Afghanistan after a suicide bomber smashed a vehicle that was piled with explosives into an armored NATO bus on Saturday.
The Gaston Gazette reported U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Rod Newman, 25, was on the bus that was en route to a hospital, said Newman's aunt, Teresa Gregory.
At least 17 people were killed in the attack, including 13 Americans.
Military personnel confirmed Newman's death Sunday morning to his family.
The explosion knocked the bus on its side and it caught on fire. The bus was surrounded by military vehicles.
Newman was raised in Shelby by his grandparents. Gregory said he joined the Army just after he graduated high school. He was a counselor.
Newman was supposed to come home Dec. 31 for two weeks. He left behind a wife and a 5-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. "It doesn't seem real," Gregory said. "We were really shocked."
The attack was labeled one of the deadliest strikes against the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul since the war began, the AP reported.