WKYT.COM -- LOUISVILLE, KY. -- A Kentucky National Guard soldier was killed and two others were injured when their vehicle struck an explosive device.
Ryan J. Montgomery, 22, of Greensburg, died Sunday while returning from a convoy escort mission near Baghdad, the Kentucky National Guard said in a news release Monday night.
The other soldiers wounded in the patrol were evacuated to a military hospital and are in stable condition. Both are expected to recover from their wounds. The families of the wounded soldiers have been notified, but their names were not released.
Montgomery was assigned to Bravo Battery 1st Battalion 623rd Field Artillery, based in Campbellsville. His unit mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in November and deployed in January.
Montgomery joined the military with his twin brother, Bryan, in September 2000 during their senior year at Green County High School. They served in the same unit.
Ryan was an outgoing, top-notch student, said Nelson Pickett, who was principal at the school when Montgomery attended. Pickett described Montgomery as an outspoken student who, like his twin brother, was well-liked by many. "If you knew one of the boys, you knew both of them," Pickett said. "They were very close." Musically inclined, Ryan Montgomery played in the marching band, as well as the school jazz band. He was also a volunteer firefighter. Pickett said the Montgomery twins joined the National Guard as a way to give something back to their country. "They were looking to serve and be a part of that," Pickett said Sharon Montgomery, the twins' stepmother, told the Louisville Courier-Journal, "Greensburg is a small community and everybody lays claim to these boys. Everybody knows them. The whole town is in grief now." Capt. Lawrence A. Joiner, the commander of Bravo Company, said in a written statement that Montgomery would volunteer for any task or mission and handled them well. "He was always happy and smiling. He made you feel good inside every time you would talk to him," Joiner said. Funeral arrangements were not available Monday night. Montgomery was the seventh member of the Kentucky National Guard killed in Iraq. There are currently 1,127 Kentucky National Guard soldiers in Iraq.