St Paul Pioneer Press -- A 27-year-old Minnesota soldier died Friday in Baghdad after being injured when a bomb exploded near his vehicle during a combat patrol, the Defense Department said Sunday.

Staff Sgt. Kevin M. Witte, of Beardsley, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, based in Baumholder, Germany. His wife and son live in Germany.

Witte's close-knit hometown, a farm town of about 250 people on the border with South Dakota, is struggling to accept his death, said his aunt, Beardsley Mayor Mary Sykora.

"Nobody can believe it," she said. "Everyone feels their pain."

Witte, a 1997 graduate of Beardsley High School, was well-known and well-liked in town, Sykora said.

She had seen him earlier this year when he returned home from Germany for the funeral of his father, Marvin Witte, she said. Marvin, a truck driver, died of cancer, she said, and Kevin Witte's death was the third tragedy for the family in just one year. Witte's grandmother died about a year ago.

"Kevin was a good kid and he was very proud of what he did," she said, adding that he had a lot of medals for his military service.

Rhonda Witte, Kevin's stepmother, declined an interview.

Witte was the 41st Minnesotan to die in connection with the Iraq war, including 10 this year. A memorial and military funeral in Beardsley is being planned.

Witte is one of 83 American service members killed this month in Iraq, the highest monthly toll this year. The pace of U.S. deaths could make October the deadliest month in two years.

Sunday was particularly deadly as militants targeted police recruits and shoppers rounding up last-minute sweets and delicacies Sunday for a feast to mark the end of the Ramadan holy month, the highlight of the Muslim year. At least 44 Iraqis were reported killed across the country. Three U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday, two by small arms fire west of the capital and one by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, the military said.