Facebook	Sergeant Jonathon Hunter, pictured with his wife, Whitney Hunter.
Two Fort Bragg soldiers, both married in October and one whose wife is expecting their first child, were killed in a suicide attack August 2 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, officials say.
Sergeant Jonathon Hunter was been identified as one of the two soldiers killed, the Department of Defense said in a statement.
Hunter, 23, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the Pentagon said in a press release. Specialist Christopher Harris, 25, of Jackson Springs, North Carolina, was also killed in the attack.
Hunter’s father, Mark, a veteran, told the Associated Press that his son and their unit had been in Afghanistan for 32 days before the fatal attack. “I’m former military, me and his uncle both, so we know the dangers,” Hunter told the AP.
FacebookJonathon Hunter with his father, Mark Hunter, during his days at Columbus East High School.
Sergeant Jonathon Hunter was a standout football player at Columbus East High School in Indiana, his local newspaper, The Republic, reports. He graduated in 2011.
“He was a nice young man, a very unselfish player. He did everything we asked him to do,” his coach, Bob Gaddis said told the newspaper. Gaddis said Hunter was a running back for his first three years in high school, but switched to defensive end his senior season to help the team.
Jonathon Hunter with his wife, Whitney, celebrate with family and friends at their wedding in October 2016.
Hunter married his wife, Whitney Stewart Hunter, on October 25, 2016, The Republic reports. He is also survived by his older brother and two stepsisters, his father told the Associated Press, and was cheerful, loving and religious.
“If you were down, he would cheer you up and he was God-loving. He was raised in the church,” Mark Hunter told the AP.
Specialist Chris Harris, pictured with his wife, Britt Harris.
Chris Harris, a North Carolina native, enlisted in October 2013, the 82nd Airborne said in a press release.
He married his wife, Britt, on October 16, 2015.
Specialist Chris Harris and his wife, Britt Harris.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help Britt Harris and Chris’ family. You can make a donation to that fund here. More than $30,000 has already been raised.
“Britt has recently discovered that she and Chris were expecting their first child. During this time, money should be the absolute least important thing on her mind. If you feel it in your heart to donate to this cause, it would be kindly appreciated. Thank you all for reading our story,” Jenny Ann Stone wrote on the page.
Sergeant Jonathon Hunter, of Columbus, Indiana, has been identified as one of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan on August 2, 2017, along with Specialist Christopher Harris.