Fourth Oklahoma Soldier Killed In Iraq

Monday, June 25th 2007, 6:51 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A U.S. Army soldier from Dibble was killed in Iraq, the fourth Oklahoma soldier to die in combat last week. Army Pfc. Jerimiah Veitch, 21, died Thursday when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade just outside of Baghdad, Veitch's sister Amanda Testerman said Monday.

Veitch had only been in Iraq for two months following a two-week visit with family and friends in his hometown of Dibble, Testerman said. He had served six months in Iraq before that.

"If you needed anything, he was there," Testerman said.

Friends and family gathered Sunday night for a candle light vigil in Veitch's honor at Dibble High School, where he graduated and where he made the grades that kept him on the football field and in the weight room.

"He did great in school," Testerman said. "He did the school part so he could play football. He always gave 100 percent."

Veitch moved to Dibble with his mother Valorie Sanchez and stepfather Tony Sanchez from San Jose, Calif., before high school.

His death marks the fourth Oklahoma soldier to die in Iraq in less than one week. Pfc. Thomas Ray Leemhuis, 23, of Anadarko, and Sgt. Ryan M. Wood, 22, of Oklahoma City, both were killed Thursday in Baghdad. Spc. Derek Calhoun, 23, of Oklahoma City, died Saturday near Baghdad.

Watch the video: Oklahoma Soldier Killed Overseas