Pentagon identifies soldier killed in Mosul, Iraq

A soldier salutes the flag. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

First Lt. Weston Lee, a 25-year-old with the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, died Saturday in Mosul, Iraq, from wounds he sustained after an improvised explosive device was detonated near him while on patrol, the Pentagon announced Sunday.

Lee, from Bluffton, Georgia, joined the Army in March 2015, and was a platoon leader. He was deployed to Iraq in December 2016. Col. Pat Work, the commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, called Lee "an extraordinary young man and officer. He was exactly the type of leader that our paratroopers deserve." The Army said Lee has posthumously been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Meritorious Service Medal.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.