Army Spc. Nicholas P. Olson

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Nicholas P. Olson, 22, of Novato, Calif.

Spc. Olson was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Sept. 18, 2007 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations. Also killed were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III and Spc. Donald E. Valentine III.

San Francisco Chronicle -- A 22-year-old Army specialist from Novato was one of three soldiers killed by a bomb in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, the Pentagon said today.

Spc. Nicholas P. Olson died Tuesday after an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations, the Defense Department said. No additional details about the incident were released.

He is survived by his wife and 10-month-old child, said assistant principal Dan Curtaz of Novato High School, which Olson attended when he lived in Marin.

Olson graduated from San Marin High School, a continuation school, after attending Novato High, Curtaz said. Curtaz taught physical education at the time and remembered Olson as a "good kid."

"He had a lot of energy - he was a good kid to be around," Curtaz said. "He was in our junior ROTC program, and he was always wearing his uniform proudly. He was very proud to be part of that program, and that experience must have eventually led him into a military career."

Olson enlisted in the Army in October 2004 and was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, known as the Stryker Brigade Combat team, out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was decorated with the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Also killed in the explosion were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III, 23, of Pensacola, Fla., and Spc. Donald E. Valentine III, 21, of Orange Park, Fla.

Army Spc. Nicholas P. Olson was killed in action on 9/18/07.