Jason Nunez dies of injuries from I.E.D.

A Lehigh County native was one of four soldiers killed Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near their truck in Baqubah, Iraq.

Army Cpl. Jason Nunez, 22, who was born in Fountain Hill but lived in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, was driving when the bomb went off, said his father, Sam Nunez of south Bethlehem.

''He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. He was a good kid,'' said the elder Nunez, adding Jason had a wife and 6-month-old daughter.

He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., the Defense Department said Tuesday.

The Pentagon said another Pennsylvanian died in the Baqubah blast -- Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez, 21, of New Freedom, York County.

Baqubah, 31 miles northeast of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala province, a religiously mixed area that has seen fierce fighting in recent months.

As the U.S. Senate advanced a proposal for a nonbinding deadline for troop withdrawal, the Defense Department reported that 3,236 servicemen and women have died in the Iraq war.

Nunez became the 22nd person from the Lehigh Valley region, or with ties to the region, to die in either the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.

He was born at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill. The family moved to Puerto Rico in 1988, when Jason was a toddler, and he lived there most of his life, his father said. He was to be discharged from the Army in August.

Sam Nunez and Jason's cousin, the Rev. Santos A. Rosado, also of Bethlehem, said the family questions why Nunez wasn't previously discharged for medical reasons. He was wounded by a roadside bomb about two months ago and lost part of his hearing, they said.

''That's what the family is saying: He never should have been sent back,'' said Rosado, pastor of the Victory

Worship Center in south Bethlehem.

Nunez was hospitalized in Iraq for about a week, then sent back to his unit, the elder Nunez said.

Jason Nunez is survived by his wife, Damairis, and 6-month-old daughter, Jamary, in Puerto Rico, where his mother and two brothers, Joel and Emmanuel, also live.

Father and son spoke on the phone on Saturday, the elder Nunez said. They talked about Jason's discharge and some of the things he planned to do, like buy a house for his family.

''He sounded very happy on the phone,'' Sam Nunez said. ''I asked him, 'Are you afraid?' He said a little bit, but not too bad.''

Burial is planned at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamon, the elder Nunez said.

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