Denton Publishing  - A Krum native and Special Forces Green Beret officer died Sunday in Iraq when he exited his vehicle and stepped on an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. 1st Class Justin S. Monschke, 28, “encountered an IED in the course of conducting a dismounted movement to a suspected enemy position,” according to information provided by the U.S. Army News Service.

His father, Larry Monschke, said his son enlisted in the Army during his junior year of high school.

“He had to graduate high school first, but he wanted to go right away,” Monschke said. “So, as soon as he graduated, he left for boot camp a week later.”

He loved being in the Army, and served his country with pride, his father said.

Justin Monschke’s interest in the Army might have stemmed from his love of Civil War history and military history that he developed in junior high school, his father said.

In high school, Monschke played baseball and ran on the cross country team, his father said.

Larry Monschke said he talked with his son last week, and he was doing well though he couldn’t say anything specific about his work.

Monschke’s mother, Patty Jett, could not be reached for comment.

Monschke was serving in the south Baghdad region of Arab Jabour, Iraq, as a Special Forces Operational Detachment — Alpha Team weapons sergeant assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Monschke graduated from Krum High School in 1997 and enlisted in the Army that June. In 2002, he earned the legendary Green Beret.

Monschke had undergone extensive advanced military tactics, paratroop, emergency medical, Ranger, Special Forces and non-commissioned officer training.

He earned two Army Commendation medals, three Army Achievement medals, three Good Conduct medals, a National Defense Service medal, an Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, campaign medals in Afghanistan and Iraq, a Global War on Terrorism medal, and numerous badges and ribbons.

He served as an instructor at the U.S. Army Ranger Training Battalion in Georgia and also as a squad leader and observer/controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

He deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in July as a member of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force.

 This was his second deployment in the military and his first in Iraq.

He is survived by his wife, Melissa, his daughter and son, Ashley and Ryan, and stepson, Dylan, of Lillington, N.C.; his father, Larry Monschke of Fort Worth; and his mother, Patty Jett of Denton.