2 Campbell soldiers killed in Afghanistan - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

2 Campbell soldiers killed in Afghanistan

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Two Fort Campbell soldiers were killed during an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to the military.

The Department of Defense said in a news release Thursday that Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson, 24, of Bald Knob, Ark., and Pfc. Jason M. Kropat, 25, of White Lake, N.Y., were killed Tuesday. They are both assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing inside the U.S.-Afghan base in Khost that killed two and wounded a number of others.

Richardson was a fire support specialist who joined the Army in June 2006 and came to Fort Campbell in January 2007. He is survived by his wife, Rachel Richardson, of Clarksville, Tenn.; mother, Sharon Dunigan, of Bridgeport, W.V.; and father, Jeffery Richardson, of Germany.

Kropat was an infantryman who joined the Army in November 2008 and arrived at Fort Campbell in March 2009. Kropat is survived by his parents, Kathleen and Glenn Kropat of Fredericksburg, Texas.

His girlfriend, Shannon Kinne of White Lake, said Kropat was “the all-American Boy Scout.” She told the Middletown Times Herald-Record that Kropat joined the Army to make a stable life for the couple as well as to prove to himself he could do it.

Kropat grew up in Sullivan County with his three sisters. His sister, Kristina, said he loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman.