Grenade kills Fayette soldier

A Fayette County man who found a career in the Army has died in combat in Afghanistan.

First Sgt. Christopher C. Rafferty, 37, of Brownsville, died Friday in Sharana, a day after being injured when his unit was hit by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade, according to the Department of Defense.

Rafferty was a senior noncommissioned officer with the 37th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, at Fort Bragg, N.C. His unit was deployed to Afghanistan in March.

In a prepared statement, Capt. Richard Ojeda, rear detachment commander, praised Rafferty for his leadership abilities.

"First Sgt. Christopher Rafferty was an exemplary senior noncommissioned officer and leader, husband and father, who died while attempting to bring peace and justice to a land and people who have neither," Ojeda said.

The Fort Bragg Public Affairs Office declined to release any information regarding Rafferty's immediate family.

An airborne combat engineer, Rafferty had been in the Army for 18 years, having enlisted on Sept. 12, 1988. In addition to Afghanistan, his service record included tours of duty in Kosovo, Kuwait and the Persian Gulf. He also had served as a drill sergeant.

Rafferty's awards include the Bronze Star.

The 37th Engineer Battalion is in Afghanistan to build roads.

In April, Lt. Col. Donald E. Degidio Jr., battalion commander, told The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune that during the unit's first 30 days on the ground, it built 34 miles of road. In June, it was to start work on an 88-mile road from central Afghanistan south, nearly to Pakistan.

The unit also clears roadside bombs and buried mines, including unexploded Russian ordnance dating to the 1970s.

Degidio said the Army engineers are under constant threat of small-arms attack by Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

The 37th Engineer Battalion is planning a memorial service for Rafferty. Plans were incomplete yesterday.