Number 87

Kentucky's most recent Afghanistan casualty is not yet in the ground, and we have to face another.

A 23-year-old soldier from Louisville has died in Afghanistan after a bomb attack on his unit.

The Defense Department says Sgt. Adam J. Ray died Tuesday in southern Afghanistan from wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.

Ray was on his first combat deployment and had been in Afghanistan since July, according to an Army press release.

The Army promoted him posthumously to sergeant from his previously held rank of specialist.

He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

SNIP

During his service, Ray received several military honors, including the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal-Army Service Ribbon.

According to the Associated Press, as of Friday at least 902 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in late 2001.