Worcester Telegram -- WESTMINSTER— A 23-year-old soldier from Westminster died Wednesday in Baghdad from wounds suffered when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

First Lt. Ryan P. Jones, who graduated from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was assigned to the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division (the famed "Big Red One") out of Fort Riley, Kansas, according to the defense department.

Also killed during the incident was Spc. Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda, 20, of Long Beach, Calif., the defense department said.

Lt. Jones graduated from Monty Tech in 2001 and went on to get a degree in civil engineering from WPI, graduating in 2005.

"I knew Ryan. He was a great kid," Monty Tech Superintendent-Director James R. Culkeen said this morning. "He certainly exemplified what we want a Monty Tech graduate to be."

The superintendent said Mr. Jones was a co-captain of the Monty Tech football team, a member of the National Honor Society and a Fitchburg Rotary Club student of the month. In his senior year, he received the Monty Tech Purple and Gold Award for being the school’s most positive role model.

Although Mr. Culkeen did not have Mr. Jones in his class, he was a house carpentry teacher when Mr. Jones was a student in the program.

"If you worked here then, you knew who this kid was," Mr. Culkeen said. "Some staff members have taken the news quite hard."

Mr. Jones had been corresponding with the students in the school’s Junior ROTC program, and the students just received a letter from him Monday.

Mr. Culkeen fought to keep his emotions in check as he read from the letter while sitting on the couch in his office. In the neatly handwritten letter, the lieutenant describes his unit’s work clearing explosive devices. After calling IEDs the most dangerous weapon in the insurgents’ arsenal, he wrote: "There have been a few times the IEDs have found us before we found them, but don’t worry, our trucks have enough armor on them to survive most blasts."

Mr. Jones was an only child. His parents, Elaine and Kevin Jones, were not available to comment this morning. An American flag flew at half-staff in the family’s driveway.

In the main office at Monty Tech, a wreath with red and white carnations, baby’s breath and a black bow was on display.

On it, a sash read: "In Memory of First Lieutenant Ryan Patrick Jones, U.S. Army."