A 35-year-old Fort Campbell soldier and Mesquite native was killed Monday in Afghanistan after his unit came under rocket attack, according to the military.
The military said Sgt. 1st Class Raymond J. Munden died at Forward Operating Base Tillman in Paktika Province.
"When they came up the driveway, I knew," said Munden's mother, Billie Clark. "They wouldn't tell me anything until I came in and sat down."
Munden, a graduate of Mesquite High School, joined the Army in August of 1991 and served tours in Haiti, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. He arrived at Fort Campbell in January 2002.
He was an infantryman assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
"He loved defending his country, fighting for freedom and wanted to spread freedom throughout the world," Munden's older brother, Brad said.
Munden was walking to his barracks Monday when shrapnel from a rocket propelled grenade hit him in the back.
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"They said he was unconcious," his mother said.
He died at a hospital 30 minutes later.
Munder was three weeks shy of completing his yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.
He will be buried in New York, where his wife and four children reside. His family also plans to hold a memorial service next week in Mesquite.
Munden is survived by his wife, Kelly, and daughters Sydney and Kailey of Depew, N.Y.; sons Gaven and Garrett of Copenhagen, N.Y.; his father, Ralph, of Richland, Mo.; and his mother, Clark, of Mesquite.
