Local man killed in Afghanistan: Pardo's tank destroyed by explosive device

U.S. Army Pfc. Alejandro Jose (AJ) Pardo, a 2009 graduate of Granite Hills High School, was killed Sunday when the tank in which he was riding was destroyed by an explosive device in Afghanistan.

Mr. Pardo, 21, is the seventh man with local ties to be killed in the war on terror, the fourth to die in Afghanistan.

The young man was home based in El Paso, Texas, which is home to Fort Bliss Army Base. He was an MP with the 978th Military Police Company. Neither the Department of Defense or a public affairs officer at Fort Bliss could offer any information. A spokesperson with the Department of Defense said all families of soldiers killed in a single incident must be notified before any names are released.

The Pardo family was reportedly notified Sunday that Mr. Pardo was killed on Sunday, July 7, Afghanistan time.

He is the son of Kate Pardo of Porterville and is survived by an older brother, Anthony Pardo, who is also serving in the military and is stationed in Ohio.

A memorial service was held Tuesday night at Holy Cross Catholic Church at Newcomb and North Grand. Mr. Prado was a member of the youth ministry at St. Anne’s Church, friends said.

City flags have been lowered to half-staff to honor Pardo’s sacrifice.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

According to his Facebook page, Mr. Pardo graduated from Granite Hills in 2009 and joined the Army that same year. He also attended Bartlett Middle School.

He played baseball and football at Granite Hills and played for the Cardinals which played for the city Little League championship in 2003.

“He was a very well-rounded individual. It is a very sad moment for all of us,” said good friend Linda Ridge.

“He was a very generous, a very happy person,” added Ridge.

She said he also participated in orchestra at Granite Hills and was an excellent student. In fact, she said, he joined the military so he could eventually use the GI benefits to go to college.

“I’m still in shock,” said another close friend, Hannah Risvold, who said she exchanged messages with him just last week. “He was looking forward to coming home,” she said.

He went to Afghanistan in March for a nine-month deployment, said Ridge, adding he was already planning for what he would do when he got home later this year. Risvold said he was scheduled to return to the states in November and be in Porterville for Christmas.

Ridge said he was not “thrilled” to be going to Afghanistan, but was proud of his service. “He understood it was part of his job of being in the U.S. military,” added Risvold.

She said he really enjoyed the year he served in Korea. She called him “a hero.”

According to media reports, a bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members, on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.

NATO said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device but provided no further details about the attack and did not identify the dead service members, but the DOD reported all six were Americans.

German Brig. Gen. Gunter Katz, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said the six Americans were killed when their armored vehicle struck a bomb in eastern Afghanistan. He said a seventh American soldier was killed in a separate insurgent attack Sunday in the south.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in Wardak province. Coalition and Afghan forces are trying to secure areas of Wardak, south of Kabul, that insurgents use as a gateway into the Afghan capital, where they have staged high-profile attacks on Afghan government and NATO targets.

It’s estimated the bomb contained roughly 200 pounds of homemade explosives. The statement from the Taliban spokesman said the soldiers died when their tank ran over a bomb around 8 p.m. Sunday.

So far this year, more than 225 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan. That compares with 271 in the first six months of last year.

Other local soldiers to die in the War on Terror are Army Spec. Thomas J. Mayberry in December, 2011; Army Spec. Douglas Jeffries in September of 2011; Army Cpl. Brett Land in October of 2010; Army Sgt. Michael Mitchell, in April 2004; and Army Sgt. Timothy Paul Martin in February of 2008. Another solider, Army Spc. Michael Christopher Balsle who was married to a woman from Porterville, was killed in January of 2007.

UPDATE TUESDAY, July 11, 5:25 P.M. — U.S. Army Pfc. Alejandro Jose (AJ) Pardo, a 2009 graduate of Granite Hills High School, was killed Sunday when the tank in which he was riding was destroyed by an explosive device in Afghanistan.

Mr. Pardo, 21, is the seventh man with local ties to be killed in the war on terror, the fourth to die in Afghanistan.

The young man was home based in El Paso, Texas, which is home to Fort Bliss Army Base. He was an MP with the 978th Military Police Company. Neither the Department of Defense or a public affairs officer at Fort Bliss could offer any information. A spokesperson with the Department of Defense said all families of soldiers killed in a single incident must be notified before any names are released.

The Pardo family was reportedly notified Sunday that Mr. Pardo was killed on Sunday, July 7, Afghanistan time.

He is the son of Kate Pardo of Porterville and is survived by an older brother, Anthony Pardo of Ohio.

A memorial service will be held at 7:30 p.m. today (Tuesday) at Holy Cross Catholic Church at Newcomb and North Grand. Mr. Prado was a member of the youth ministry at St. Anne’s Church, friends said.

According to media reports, a bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.