James M. Wosika

Wednesday, January 10 2007 @ 07:46 PM EST

Minneapolis Star Tribune -- A 24-year-old Minnesota National Guard soldier was killed by a bomb while on foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, the Guard said Wednesday.

Sgt. James M. Wosika Jr. of St. Paul was on patrol with members of the Crookston-based Company B, 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry when he was struck around 3 p.m. local time Tuesday. No other Minnesota National Guard soldiers were hurt.

He is the 50th person with strong Minnesota ties to die in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wosika was the third member of his unit to die in Iraq in less than six weeks. A roadside bomb killed Spc. Bryan T. McDonough of Maplewood and Corey J. Rystad of Red Lake Falls on Dec. 2, and their friend, Sgt. John Kriesel, lost both of his legs.

"This has been a difficult month for the soldiers of Company B," Lt. Col. Kevin Gutknecht said. "Times like this, the well being of our soldiers and their families is paramount."

Further details about the incident weren't immediately available, Gutknecht said at a news conference at the Guard's headquarters near the Capitol.

Wosika, a 2000 graduate of Highland Park High School, was due home in March or April, Gutknecht said. He had deployed to Iraq last March with about 2,600 other Guard troops.

He was single. Wosika's family lives in St. Paul but told the Guard they didn't want to comment to the media.

Wosika had a profile on Myspace.com, where he wrote informally of personal details, such as his country music phase, and named his heroes as "Any man or women that has died for this country and all that may lose there life."

"Anyone who dies for their nation has to be considered a hero I think by everyone, and now Sgt. Wosika is a hero as well," Gutknecht said.

Gutknecht said there are about 150 soldiers in Wosika's company. He said the unit has support from chaplains and mental health professionals and that the Guard aims to help the families of all soldiers who have deployed to Iraq.

"The loss of Sgt. Wosika is a tragedy," said Maj. Gen. Larry Shellito, the Minnesota Guard Adjutant General, in a prepared statement. "He was proudly serving his state and nation in a combat zone when he was taken from us."

"It is with a heavy heart that I once again ask the citizens of Minnesota to remember this soldier and his family in their prayers," Shellito said.

Wosika joined the Guard in 2000 and also served in Kosovo for six months in 2004 on a peacekeeping mission.

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