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Ohio soldier killed in Iraq Date published: 10/15/2005
By NATASHA ALTAMIRANO An Ohio Army National Guardsman, whose mother lives in Fredericksburg, was killed in Iraq Monday while driving the lead vehicle of an armored convoy that was hit by a bomb. Spc. Jeremy Hodge was with the Ohio Army National Guard's 612th Engineer Battalion. Hodge, 20, graduated in 2003 from Ridgemont High School in Ridgeway, Ohio. His father, Mike Hodge of Rushsylvania, Ohio, told the Bellefontaine Examiner earlier this week that Army officials said four others were injured in the attack. The unit was deployed in November 2004 and is due home by the end of the year, according to an Associated Press article in Tuesday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. Hodge's mother, Michele Norris, lives in Fredericksburg. She could not be reached yesterday. Jeremy Hodge planned to earn money for college in the Army but had not yet decided on a career, the AP reported. Mike Hodge told the Bellefontaine Examiner he thought it was ironic that his son, whose license was suspended three times before he was 18, was the lead driver in a convoy. "But that is the way he was," Mike Hodge told the newspaper. "He always had to be first." Jeremy Hodge was a sports enthusiast. In high school, he was on the football, baseball and track teams, the AP reported. He also was a NASCAR fan. Jeremy Hodge had interests off the field as well. He was a member of the school choir and performed in musicals, the newspaper reported. Ridgemont Principal Chad Cunningham, an assistant baseball coach, told the Bellefontaine Examiner that Jeremy Hodge had a positive attitude. "If Jeremy was sitting on the bench, he wasn't pouting," Cunningham said. "He was cheering on his teammates and helping encourage them." To reach NATASHA ALTAMIRANO:
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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