Sgt. Julia Atkins, 22, died Saturday when a roadside bomb detonated near her military vehicle in Iraq, the Department of Defense confirmed MondayShreveport Times -- The tragedy of war touched down in Bossier City on Saturday, taking the youngest sibling and child from a family.Sgt. Julia Atkins, 22, died Saturday when a roadside bomb detonated near her military vehicle in Iraq, the Department of Defense confirmed Monday
The soldier was the youngest of four children whose mother died when Atkins was 12 years old.
Atkins joined the Army shortly after getting her GED, in part because of a family history of military service.
"I was in the (1/156th Armor Battalion) and when I came from basic training, she said she was joining the military. But she went active duty instead. My brother-in-law just left Iraq and my step-father is prior military," her brother said.
Atkins was a military police officer on her second tour of duty in the war. She was scheduled to leave Iraq in February and was planning to leave the Army and go to college.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Atkins' body has been flown to a military morgue at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and should be released once an autopsy is completed.