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Ill. Soldier Killed Months Before Tour Was To End

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Jun 22, 2009 8:59 am US/Central

Ill. Soldier Killed Months Before Tour Was To End

GERMANTOWN, Ill. (AP) ― The brother of a southern Illinois soldier killed in Afghanistan says his sibling was expected to return home in September to his wife and 16-month-old daughter.

Twenty-six-year-old Staff Sgt. Joshua Melton was from Germantown in Clinton County. He died along with 43-year-old Sgt. Paul Smith of East Peoria on Friday.

The Illinois National Guard says their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Kandahar.

Melton enlisted in the National Guard in 2000 while still in high school in Breese.

Dustin Melton says his late brother knew from the time he was a boy that he wanted to be a soldier.

Joshua Melton's widow, Larissa Melton, says her husband died as something he always wanted to be -- a hero.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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