Three soldiers, including one from North Carolina, were shot and killed Saturday in Afghanistan supporting Operation Freedom Sentinel, the Department of Defense announced Monday.
Cpl. Dillon Baldridge, 22, from Youngsville, North Carolina, was one of the three killed in Peka Valley in the Nangarhar Province. Sgt. Erick Houck, 25, from Baltimore, Maryland, and Sgt. William Bays, 29, from Barstow, California, were also killed.
(Corp. Dillon Baldridge)
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to ABC News.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke about the deaths at his regular press briefing Monday.
"I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the three service members that were killed this weekend in Afghanistan. The incident is currently under investigation, but our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of these American heroes who've lost their lives in this tragic event," Spicer told reporters.
Anchor Scott Wickersham spoke to Baldridge’s father Monday evening.
Baldridge graduated from Franklinton High School in 2012. He was a wrestler and joined the Army right after graduation.
Baldridge was on his first full tour overseas and was a member of the 25th infantry division training Afghan soldiers.
Chris Baldridge, Dillon’s father, said his son always dreamed of being a soldier and died fulfilling a dream.
"It was one of those things you'd look at him and say, 'Yeah, he's going to be a soldier one day,’” Chris Baldridge said. “He'd be up at 5 in the morning watching the military channel on TV. What kid does that, you know?"
Dillion Baldridge was expected to be back next month in time for his 23rd birthday.
He will be buried in a family plot in Boone later this month.
Baldridge's maternal grandmother Debbie Horan remembered a happy young boy who had no fear of the spotlight.
"Even at the youngest age, we'd go into a restaurant and he loved music and he would just belt out a song and everybody would just stand around and listen to him sing, at 4 years old," Horan said.
The soldiers were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Company D, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY.
The Department of Defense said the incident is under investigation.
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