FORT CARSON — Three soldiers based at Fort Carson have died in Afghanistan from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with improvised explosives and small-arms fire, the Defense Department said Tuesday.
The soldiers were identified as 24-year-old Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf of Yoncalla, Ore.; 24-year-old Spec. Brian R. Bowman of Crawfordsville, Ind.; and 19-year-old Pvt. John P. Dion of Shattuck, Okla. The military said they died Sunday in Ashoque, Afghanistan.
The three soldiers were assigned to Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, part of the 4th Infantry Division. The attack marked the post’s highest death toll in a single incident since four Fort Carson soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Oct. 15.
At least 38 Fort Carson soldiers have died in Afghanistan.
Lengstorf joined the Army in August 2006 and was deployed to Afghanistan in May. He also served in Iraq from March to December 2007. He is survived by a wife and 14-month-old daughter.
Bowman, a married combat medic, also joined the Army in August 2006 and also deployed to Afghanistan in May.
Dion joined the Army in June after graduating from high school in Shattuck, where he was on the baseball and football teams. He was deployed to Afghanistan in November.
Dion’s half-brother, Justin Werve, who was deployed to Iraq twice, said he tried talking Dion out of joining the Army, but he couldn’t be dissuaded.
