Name: Army Pvt. Benjamin B. Tollefson

Age: 22

From: Concord, Calif.

Assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Incident: Army Pvt. Benjamin B. Tollefson died Dec. 31 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire in Ghazaliya.

Died: December 31, 2008

Fort Riley soldier dies in Iraq attack

The Associated Press

FORT RILEY, Kan. — A Fort Riley soldier has died of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit in Iraq.

The Army says 22-year-old Pvt. Benjamin Tollefson of Concord, Calif., died Dec. 31 in Balad, Iraq. Tollefson was an infantryman assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division based at the northeast Kansas post.

Fort Riley spokeswoman Deb Skidmore said Tollefson was in his first tour of duty in Iraq. He entered the Army in August 2007 and was assigned to Fort Riley in March 2008.