Fort Carson soldier killed by Baghdad explosion

   A decorated veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was killed Wednesday in Baghdad, the first casualty from his Fort Carson-based bomb disposal group.

   Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence D. Ezell, of Portland, Texas, died after an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations, the Department of Defense said Saturday.

   Ezell, 30, was an explosive ordnance disposal specialist. He was on his second tour in Iraq, deploying Nov. 1 with fellow members of the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. The unit has fewer than 100 people in Iraq.

   He received the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and the Senior Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge.

   He served in Iraq from March 2003 to October 2004 and in Afghanistan from October 2005 to April 2006, according to records from Fort Carson.

   The bombing pushed the Fort Carson death toll to 237, according to Gazette records.

   Ezell's death came on the day another soldier from the Colorado Springs area died in a Baghdad bombing. Spc. Ronald J. Tucker, 21, of Fountain, was serving as a mortarman with a unit from Fort Hood, Texas.

   Six other soldiers from Fort Carson were wounded in Baghdad last week in fighting between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

   Ezell joined the Army on Jan. 11, 1997, and the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group on March 23, 2007.

   A casualty assistance officer reached by telephone at Ezell's Fountain home on Saturday said the soldier's widow, Christina, did not want to comment. The Gazette could not locate relatives in Texas.