U.S. military identifies soldier killed in Afghanistan

[July 15, 2019]    (Reuters) - A U.S. Army soldier killed in Afghanistan was identified on Sunday as decorated special forces company Sergeant Major James G. "Ryan" Sartor of Teague, Texas, the Department of Defense (DOD) said in a release.

Sartor, 40, died Saturday from wounds from enemy small arms fire in a combat operation in the province of Faryab, in northern Afghanistan, the DOD said.

Additional details about his death were not immediately available.

Sartor was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colorado, the DOD said.

Sartor joined the Army in 2001 and was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division as an Infantryman, the Army Times reported.

He later completed special forces training and was deployed numerous times to Iraq and Afghanistan, starting in 2002, the publication said. He also became a Green Beret, media reported.

Sartor's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Valorous Unit Award, among others, media reported.

He will be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart medal.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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