Army Pfc. George J. Howell

Died December 21, 2007 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

24, of Salinas, Calif.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Infantry Division (Light Infantry) Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

Salinas soldier killed in Iraq

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — A 24-year-old infantryman from Salinas, Calif., who entered the Army in April was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq four days before Christmas, Army officials said Wednesday.

Pfc. George Howell, who was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, sustained fatal wounds when the blast hit his convoy near Riyadh on Friday.

The Army said four other soldiers were injured in the blast, two seriously.

The combat team is responsible for security in the Kirkuk region of northern Iraq and assists in training Iraqi security forces.

Howell completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga., and had been awarded a Purple Heart and the Army Service Ribbon. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son, all of Watertown, N.Y., and his mother.