The Department of Defense lists 19-year-old Army Pfc. Austin Staggs of Weatherford as one of six soldiers who were killed in action Nov. 29 in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
Staggs was killed when his unit came under small arms fire from an insurgent group.
The Star-Telegram reports Staggs, who was married with a 2-year-old son, called home on Thanksgiving and left a message for his mother and step-father, Kaye and Judd Jordan, who were on a deer hunting trip.
"My daughter was just crushed that she didn't get to talk to him," Staggs' grandmother Marion Buckner told the paper. "But I told her: 'You've got his voice on your phone now. You can listen to him anytime you want.'"
Staggs body was returned to the U.S. on Wednesday and was met by his wife Sheena, his mother, father Byram Staggs of Georgia and other relatives.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Also killed were:
Sgt. 1st Class Barry E. Jarvis, 36, of Tell City, Ind.
Staff Sgt. Curtis A. Oakes, 29, of Athens, Ohio.
Spc. Matthew W. Ramsey, 20, of Quartz Hill, Calif.
Pfc. Jacob A. Gassen, 21, of Beaver Dam, Wis.
Pfc. Austin G. Staggs, 19, of Senoia, Ga.
Pvt. Buddy W. McLain, 24, of Mexico, Maine.
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Staggs and the other five servicemen were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
