KABUL, Afghanistan — The Pentagon says the two soldiers killed Saturday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb were from Virginia and Illinois.
On Sunday, military officials identified the casualties as 29-year-old Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin of Newport News, Virginia; and 21-year-old Pfc. Miguel A. Villalon of Joliet, Illinois.
Both soldiers were assigned to 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The Pentagon says their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province. Two other soldiers were injured.
A Defense Department news release said the two 82nd Airborne Division Paratroopers were killed when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
McLaughlin joined the Army in 2012, and after completing Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, he was assigned to the 68th Engineer Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas, as a Horizontal Construction Engineer.
In 2016, he was assigned to the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as a Horizontal Construction Engineer and later as a Squad Leader. This was McLaughlin's first combat deployment.
McLaughlin's awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with "C" Device, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Action Badge and the Basic Parachutist Badge.
He was a 2018 graduate of the U.S. Army Advanced Airborne School Jumpmaster Course.
McLaughlin is survived by his wife and four children.
The soldiers were conducting operations as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission.
Defense officials said the incident is under investigation.
