Leevi Khole Barnard

Saturday, May 23 2009 @ 03:05 AM EDT

Martinsville Bulletin -- First Lt. Leevi Khole Barnard, 28, of Ararat in Patrick County, has been killed in action while serving on his third tour of duty in Iraq, according to his grandfather, Thomas L. Barnard of Ararat.

Barnard said the family was notified of the death at midnight Thursday. He said they have few details of the incident, except that there were eight servicemen involved and three were killed. He was not sure when or where the incident occurred.

Barnard was the son of Pamela Jane Barnard Payne of Patrick County, the daughter of Thomas Barnard and his wife, Daisy Barnard.

First Lt. Barnard went to Blue Ridge Elementary School and graduated from Patrick County High School in 1998, according to a release from Patrick County School Superintendent Roger Morris.

Thomas Barnard said his grandson was in JROTC in high school and then worked and also went to school after he graduated. He had been in the military for several years, Barnard said.

He added that he did not know when his grandson’s remains would be returned to the United States.

“It is difficult to imagine the loss to our community, particularly at a time of remembering our fallen soldiers,” Morris wrote Friday.

Morris has ordered that the flags at all Patrick County schools be lowered to half-staff until Barnard’s burial. He also requested that a moment of silence in the schools on Tuesday be dedicated in Barnard’s memory.

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