(AP) -- A Fort Campbell soldier from upstate New York has died in Afghanistan.
The Defense Department says 22-year-old Spc. Rafael A. Nieves Jr. of Albany, N.Y., died Sunday in Paktika province of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire.
Nieves was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
Nieves joined the Army in August 2009 and arrived at Fort Campbell in December 2009.
Survivors include his wife, Sarah A. McKinney, and two children, Emma Grace and Rafael A. III, all of Oak Grove; his father, Rafael A. Nieves Sr. of Schenectady, N.Y.; and his mother, Tina R. Roman of Bayonne, N.J.
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