Soldiers from Vt., Mass. die
Both serving in Iraq effort
Soldiers from Massachusetts and Vermont have become the latest casualties from New England in the Middle East, according to the Pentagon.
Army Specialist Christine M. Ndururi, 21, of Dracut, died of an unspecified illness yesterday in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, a US military base supporting the Iraq War, the US Department of Defense announced yesterday.
Ndururi was assigned to the Fourth squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas.
Military officials are investigating her death, which did not result from combat, the Pentagon said.
Private Adam Muller, 21, of Richmond, Vt., died Monday when a roadside bomb detonated in Iraq near the Humvee he was riding in, his family told Vermont media.
As of yesterday, the defense department had not announced his death.
Family friend Susan Wells told the Associated Press that Muller was a gunner for the 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, N.Y.
Muller graduated from Mount Mansfield Union High School in 2004, attended Vermont Technical College, and joined the Army to pay off college loans, Wells said
He had wanted to become a police officer.
Muller had been married for nearly a year, Wells told the Associated Press.
Relatives were upset that Muller was assigned to serve as a gunner in Iraq, Wells said.
When Muller enlisted last year - to make money to pay off college loans - he was told he would be providing security for top officials.
"We were all very angry about that," Wells said yesterday.
"He isn't anyone who could ever hurt a flea. To put him behind a gun was the last thing he needed." 