Army Sgt. William J. Beardsley

Died February 26, 2007 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

25, of Coon Rapids, Minn.; assigned to the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Troop Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died Feb. 26 in Diwaniyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Soldier from Coon Rapids dies in Iraq explosion

The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — A U.S. soldier from Minnesota was killed in Iraq when a bomb exploded near his vehicle, the Defense Department said Feb. 28.

Sgt. William J. Beardsley, 25, of Coon Rapids died Feb. 26 in Diwaniyah. He was assigned to the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Troop Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, of Fort Stewart, Ga.

Beardsley is the 52nd person with strong Minnesota ties to die in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.