Cory C. Kosters dies of injuries from I.E.D.

HOUSTON — A 19-year-old U.S. Army private from the Houston suburb of The Woodlands has been killed in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

Pfc. Cory Kosters was one of six soldiers from the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C., who were killed by a roadside bomb Monday during combat operations in Samarra, north of the Iraqi capital.

Frances Kosters said her grandson did not seem to be phased by bullets whizzing by his face and feet in the war zone, where he had been since August.

"He was a good Christian boy," Frances Kosters said. "He was aware of the danger and if he was taken, it didn't seem to bother him."

Kosters' father had him set up to go to college but Kosters chose instead to enlist in the military.

"He was gung-ho about the military," Frances Kosters said. "He enjoyed it and never once complained about anything.

"He was just a wonderful boy," she added.

Kosters is survived by his parents, Marlon and Senta Kosters, and 17-year-old brother Kevin Kosters.

From the Houston Chronicle