Number 104

Kentucky's 104th sacrifice to the insatiable maw of Permanent War is a 20-year-old from London, in the eastern mountains. He got married in October.

From the Herald:

Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, died in an exchange of small-arms fire in the city of Qalat, in Afghanistan's Zabul province, according to a release the Army issued Tuesday.

Family members said Napier had wanted to be a soldier since he was a child, said retired Air Force Col. Mark Jones, commander of the Air Force ROTC program at South Laurel High School.

"He was living his dream," Jones said Tuesday.

Napier's father, Darrell Napier, said he served five years in the military. Both his sons, Darrell Jr. and Dustin, followed him into the service.

Napier, who wore his camouflage uniform and boots to school nearly every day, was the cadet commander at South Laurel his senior year, in 2009-10, and was the most-decorated cadet, Jones said.

SNIP

Darrell Napier said an Army official told him his son had been shot in the head. Dustin Napier was born and died in an Army hospital, his father said.

Kentucky's 103rd Iraq/Afghanistan casualty, Marine Lance Corporal Timothy "Matt" Jackson, was from Corbin, next door to London.