Ashly L. Moyer dies of injuries from I.E.D.

Another soldier from the Lehigh Valley has died in Iraq. A 21-year-old Macungie native, Ashly Lynn Moyer, was an Army sergeant who died Saturday in a roadside bomb explosion.

Moyer was a graduate of Emmaus High School. Her tour of duty was supposed to end this summer, and she was looking forward to coming home, getting married and attending college, friends said.

Last October, when she was on a 10-day leave, Moyer visited her stepbrother Kyle's school, Shohola Elementary, in Milford, Pike County. Kathy Maida, the physical education teacher and student council adviser, said Moyer was nervous about the appearance before the 5th- and 6th-graders but carried it off like she'd been doing it for years, speaking plainly and engagingly about Army life and her hopes for the future.

The children decided to collect food, candy, playing cards and dozens of other items to ship to Moyer's unit. In the meantime, Maida struck up an e-mail correspondence with Moyer.

Maida said Moyer's e-mails reflected the fears and frustrations of Army life. It was clear, Maida said, that the young soldier was eager to come home and move on with her life.

From the Morning Call