Published: August 20, 2008 07:44 am         

Lakeland graduate killed in Afghanistan

BURR OAK, Mich. — A 29-year-old soldier who went to high school in Indiana has been killed while serving in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of Defense says staff Sgt. Kristopher Dan Rodgers of Burr Oak, Michigan, died Saturday in the Korengal Valley when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.

The Pentagon said Tuesday Rodgers was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

He was a 1998 graduate of Lakeland High School in LaGrange, Ind., said Greg Hackman of Hackman Family Funeral Homes in Sturgis, which is handling the arrangements.

Rodgers’ survivors include his wife, Selina, and their 3 1/2-year-old son, Kaden.

A funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday at Sturgis Wesleyan Church.