Soldier dies after possible friendly fire

[unhappycamper]

Soldier dies after possible friendly fire
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 28, 2008 17:30:35 EST

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — An Army sergeant killed in Afghanistan believed in his mission battling “thugs and hoodlums,” his father said.

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Ryan Kahler, 29, of Granite Falls, died Saturday after being shot in Waygul. The Defense Department said Kahler may have been hit by friendly fire from an Afghan guard who mistook him for the enemy.

Kahler, who served in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, thought often of his family, his father Ron said on Monday.

“He told me there is a group of thugs and hoodlums who want to rule the world,” Ron Kahler said. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were about keeping the world safe from those people, Kahler said.

Matthew Kahler and his wife, Vicki, have a 4-year-old daughter. The family had been stationed in Vicenza, Italy, for about eight years, his father said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_friendlyfire_080128/