The Department of Defense has released the name of a soldier from Fort Leonard Wood who was killed Thursday in Iraq.

U.S. Army Spc. Charles D. Parrish, 23, of Jasper, Ala., died Thursday in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered earlier that day in Jalula, Iraq, when his vehicle was struck by an anti-tank grenade.
Parrish was assigned to the 5th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, in Iraq. The 5th Engineer Battalion is part of the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Parrish and his unit were in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

No other information about Parrish was available a press time.
However, a press conference has been scheduled for late this morning to address the death of SPC Parrish, who is the second area soldier in the last 30 days to have been killed in Iraq.

Spc. Jacob Barton, a Rolla High School graduate, was killed on May 11 in Iraq, the victim of a shooting at a combat stress clinic in Camp Liberty.

Barton, 20, a construction equipment mechanic, was one of five people killed on when fellow soldier Sgt. John M. Russell allegedly opened fire at the center.

The Army is conducting an investigation in Barton’s killing.