Army Spc. Jacob M. Pfister

Died April 19, 2005 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

27, of Buffalo, N.Y.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed April 19 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol in Baghdad. Also killed was Army Pfc. Kevin S. K. Wessel.

New York soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A soldier from western New York was killed when a car bomb exploded near his patrol in southern Baghdad, his family said Wednesday.

Spc. Jacob Pfister grew up in Buffalo and Evans but moved to Florida after joining the Army four years ago, his mother, Amy MacGregor, said.

A spokesman with the 3rd Infantry Division said the Tuesday night attack by a suicide bomber killed another U.S. soldier and wounded four others. Seven Iraqi civilians were taken to the hospital with injuries.

The Department of Defense has not released information on Pfister’s death.

MacGregor described her son as a serious man who loved his family.

“The way he put it to me is, ‘Mom, who would you rather have over there defending you, me or some other joker?”’ MacGregor told WIVB-TV.

Pfister is survived by his wife, who is expecting their first child in June.