2 Minnesota servicemen killed in Afghanistan

A Marine and an Army National Guardsman from Minnesota have died in combat in Afghanistan.

The father of Marine Staff Sgt. Aaron J. Taylor says he was killed Friday when he was hit by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in Helmand province. Clifford Taylor of rural Two Harbors says his son grew up in Bovey and graduated from Greenway High School in Coleraine in 2000.

The Defense Department has not officially announced his death. But it said Monday that a Minnesota National Guard soldier from Walker died Saturday in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon says 24-year-old Spc. George W. Cauley died Saturday in Bagram. He was wounded when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device last Wednesday in Helmand province.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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