An Army soldier from the northwest Iowa town of Hartley has been killed in Afghanistan when his Humvee hit a landmine. 25-year-old Staff Sergeant Shane Koele was on a military police assignment near the Iranian border when he was killed. Officials say four other soldiers were hurt in the explosion — all members of Task Force Peacekeeper. Koele had only been in Afghanistan about a week. He’d already served six months of duty in Iraq in 2003. He was 1998 graduate of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School. Koele leaves a wife and a four-month-old daughter.

Radio Iowa