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Wisconsin soldier dies of war wounds

PESHTIGO — A 19-year-old Wisconsin soldier wounded in Afghanistan has died in Germany, his family said Monday.

Army gunner Pvt. Steven Drees of Peshtigo was wounded last Tuesday. He died Saturday, said Henry Drees, the soldier’s grandfather.

Drees died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, after being wounded in Konar Province, Afghanistan, in an attack that involved small-arms fire and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement Monday.

Henry Drees said his grandson, a twin, had been in Afghanistan about three weeks when he was shot in the head in an ambush near the border with Pakistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo. The soldier graduated from Peshtigo High School a year ago and had wanted to be in the military for a long time, Henry Drees said.

Drees was a .50-caliber gunner on a Humvee when he was wounded, the grandfather said. He said his grandson was "quite upbeat" about being sent to Afghanistan and "more than willing to go" but also knew there would be dangers.

"In case there was a funeral, he said he didn’t want any suits and ties," the grandfather recalled.

Steven Drees is the ninth member of the military from Wisconsin to be killed in Afghanistan since 2004.