Va. soldier killed in Afghanistan

A Virginia Beach soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan this week, less than three weeks after his 26th birthday.

Army Pfc. William L. Meredith died on Monday in Kandahar from wounds suffered when his vehicle was blasted by an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense said yesterday.

Meredith joined the Army in April 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan a year later after a two-month stint in Iraq.

He was a combat engineer with the 569th Engineer Co., 4th Engineer Battalion, based at Fort Carson, Colo.

-- Michael Martz