Army Pvt. Dylan R. Paytas

Died November 16, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

20, of Freedom, Pa.; assigned to the 3rd Brigade Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died Nov. 16 from injuries sustained from multiple gunshot wounds in Baqubah, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.

Pittsburgh-area man based at Fort Benning killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FREEDOM, Pa. — A Georgia-based soldier from a suburb of Pittsburgh who was due to return home in two months was killed in Iraq, the Pentagon announced Nov. 17.

Pvt. Dylan R. Paytas, 20, of Freedom, died Nov. 16 in Baqubah, Iraq, from multiple gun shot wounds, the military said.

He was assigned to the Army’s 3rd Brigade Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, in Fort Benning, Ga.

Freedom Area High School principal Robert Staub said school officials learned of Paytas’ death Thursday when his father, John, came to the school to let them know.

Staub said Paytas, a member of the basketball team who took business and office technology courses, was the kind of student who teachers and administrators remember well.

“Dylan was a very vibrant, full of life, high energy, good kid,” Staub said. “He was the kind of kid who makes high school fun.”