Adare W. Cleveland dies of injuries from I.E.D.

A 20-year-old soldier from Anchorage was among three men killed in Iraq on Monday when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

Pfc. Adare W. Cleveland was a cavalry scout assigned to the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, out of Fort Drum, N.Y. Sgt. Shawn M. Dunkin, 25, of Columbia, S.C., and Pfc. Matthew C. Bowe, 19, of Coraopolis, Pa., died in the same incident. Two other soldiers in the same 10th Mountain Division unit were wounded.

Cleveland was home-schooled in Anchorage through Family Partnership charter school, district and school officials said. He joined the Army in July 2005 at the age of 18, completed basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and was assigned to the Commando Brigade in November 2005.

He was deployed to Iraq in August. Cleveland was a gunner and dismount with Team Hellcat on Task Force Vigilant. His team guarded Victory Base Complex and patrolled the villages of Al Furat, Iraqi Family Village and Airport Village in the southern areas of Baghdad, according to the Sandstorm, a publication of the 10th Mountain Division.

"I love my job," Cleveland said in an interview published in the military magazine. "I love the little (children)."

An Anchorage neighbor, George Hixon, said Cleveland was a friendly young man who loved Alaska and loved hearing birds singing in the morning. He was proud to serve his country, Hixon said.

Read the rest at the Daily News