Army Pfc. Alan H. Newton Jr

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pfc. Alan H. Newton Jr., 26, of Asheboro, N.C.

Pfc. Newton was assigned to the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Greensboro, N.C.; died Oct. 2, 2009 in Murcheh, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when he was attacked by a suicide bomber. Also killed was Capt. Benjamin A. Sklaver.

News Observer -- A U.S. Army Reserve soldier killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan last week will be laid to rest in the central North Carolina town of Star today.

Pfc. Alan H. Newton Jr., 26, was a civil affairs specialist with the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Greensboro. He and another battalion member, Capt. Benjamin A. Sklaver, 32, of Medford, Mass., were killed Friday while on patrol near the Pakistan border.

Apparently they had been in Afghanistan less than a month; the Army issued news releases Sept. 3 announcing the battalion had been put on active duty

Newton was a 2002 graduate of Southwest Randolph High School in Asheboro and had five years of military service. He was in the N.C. National Guard from 2003 to 2007, when he transferred to the reserves.

He was posthumously given several awards, including the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, an Army Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

His survivors include his wife, Lisa; daughter, Riley; and mother, Joyce O. Woodell of Star

Army Pfc. Alan H. Newton Jr. was killed in action on 10/02/09.