According to the Associated Press, the number of American service members killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001 is upwards of 2,040. Now, among their ranks is a local man killed Christmas Eve: 23-year-old Army Sgt. Enrique Mondragon of The Colony, who was shot on Christmas Eve in Baraki Barak.

According to a Department of Defense release posted yesterday, Mondragon's unit came under small-arms fire while on dismounted patrol in the former capital of the mountainous Logar Province. The Department of Defense says he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 173rd Special Troops Battalion in Bamberg, Germany. Stars and Stripes notes that "the 173rd cased its colors in June for a nine-month deployment to Logar and Wardak provinces, the brigade's fourth mission to the country in six years."

Mondragon's body was flown back to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday. Funeral services are pending.

According to a photo posted to a memorial page, this post and several tweets from friends, Mondragon leaves behind a wife and a 2-year-old girl.