Arkansas soldier killed in grenade attack

A ninth member of the Arkansas-based 39th Infantry Brigade has been killed in action in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Troy Miranda is the 12th Arkansan to die in combat in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war. The 44-year-old Miranda had family in Wickes in Polk County. Military officials in Baghdad said a soldier was killed early Thursday by grenade-bearing assailants in central Baghdad. They did not release a name. Army records showed that Miranda was assigned to Detachment One, Charlie Company, in the First Battalion of the 153rd Infantry. The unit had been assigned directly to the First Calvary Division, which has been on duty in Baghdad. Miranda`s specific duties with the unit weren`t immediately known, and his age wasn`t immediately available. Jim Harris, a spokesman for Governor Huckabee, said the governor had been in contact with the soldier`s family. Harris said Huckabee had called the sergeant`s family and expressed his sympathy and the sympathy of the state of Arkansas for their brave and noble sacrifice. A military statement described a grenade attack that killed a soldier and wounded three in central Baghdad. A total of 790 American military members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year. Of those, 576 died as a result of hostile action and 214 died of non-hostile causes.