(Spencer)– Federal officials say a 29-year-old soldier that has ties to northwest Iowa has been killed in Iraq.
The U.S. Department of Defense says Spc. Christopher Opat of Cresco, Iowa died Tuesday in Baquah, Iraq, from injuries in a non-combat incident.
Military officials are investigating the incident. Further details were not immediately available.
He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Join Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Opat was a former student at the Emmetsburg campus of Iowa Lakes Community College before enlisting in Spencer.
Opat served more than three years in Germany and was deployed twice to Iraq.
His grandmother Dolores Opat says he was a quiet young man. She says military officials told the family Tuesday but did not provide details on the death.
(From the Associated Press).
