A Missouri Army National Guard Sergeant has been killed in Iraq, the victim of an improvised explosive device (IED) yesterday, February 6 th . The Guard reports that Sergeant Bradley Skelton of Gordonville had come out of retirement to serve on this deployment. Skelton is the second Missouri soldier from the 1138 th Engineer Company headquartered in Farmington to die in Iraq this year.

Specialist Matthew Straughter was a Belleville, Illinois resident who enlisted with the Missouri National Guard in St. Charles. He also served with the 1138 th . Straughter died January 31 st in Baghdad of wounds suffered when a rocket propelled grenade struck his vehicle. Straughter died one day before his 28 th birthday. Skelton was 40.