Bomb Kills Two Soldiers, Including Native of Northern Kentucky

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Bomb Kills Two Soldiers, Including Native of Northern Kentucky

WESTWOOD, Ky. (AP) - A northern Kentucky native was killed in Iraq when a bomb he was helping defuse exploded, according to family members.

Army Spc. Joey Cantrell, 23, of Westwood, a 2002 graduate of Fairview High School, was one of two soldiers killed in the explosion, said his mother, Sondra Adkins. She was told by Army representatives that her son had been killed at 5:55 p.m. Iraqi time, 10:55 a.m. in the Eastern U.S. on Wednesday, she said.

"He was in a vehicle where they were diffusing a roadside bomb," said Adkins. "It blew up and killed him and his sergeant."

The last time Adkins saw her son was during a surprise visit around Valentines Day, when he gave her a medallion in the shape of a dog tag that had a picture of himself, his mother and his brother etched into the metal. The inscription reads "Close at Heart."

Cantrell is the second soldier from the Ashland area to die in the war in Iraq. Army Pfc. Scott Messer, 26, was killed in February 2006 when the Humvee he was riding in overturned south of Baghdad.
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Information from: The Independent,
http://www.dailyindependent.com

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