Number 72

Kentucky's 72nd casualty of the Iraq/Afghanistan catastrophes is yet another Lexington boy: Specialist William L. McMullan III, 22. An Army medic, he had recently
received the Bronze Star.

He died July 8 in Bagdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

He married Elizabeth, a student at the University of Kentucky, just last year.

McMillan followed his father, a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, into the military, and his mother, a nurse, into the medical field.

McMillan, 22, was seven months into his first tour in Iraq, his family said. He had received the Bronze Star, his mother said, the fourth-highest combat award in the service, which is unusual for his position. His mother said McMillan seemed almost genetically inclined for his position in the Army. “It's almost like this is what he was born to do, you know? It was definitely in his blood.”

Specialist William McMillan is Lexington's second Iraq/Afghanistan loss in three weeks.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.