Rochester High Grad Killed in Afghanistan

A local man has been killed fighting for his country in Afghanistan. 

Spc. Kyle B. McClain, 25, died Wednesday in Salim Aka, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Thursday night. McClain was assigned to 1433rd Engineer Company, 507th Engineer Battalion, 177th Military Police Brigade, Kalamazoo, Mich. 

McClain is a 2005 graduate of .

His mother, Geraldine McClain, told the Detroit Free Press that her son had been in Afghanistan for about six weeks after tours in Korea and Iraq; she told the newspaper they were clearing roadways of IEDs when he was killed.

“He is a hero to us,” she said.

More than 2,000 American men and women have died in Afghanistan in the 10-year effort known as Operation Enduring Freedom. 

McClain is the fourth Rochester-area troop to die in the War on Terror. 

• Army Sgt. James S. Collins Jr. of Rochester Hills died Aug. 28, 2007 in Kirkuk, Iraq, from wounds suffered during combat operations. He was 35.
• Army Specialist Walter Howard of Rochester died Feb. 2, 2006, fro, injuries sustained earlier that day when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M1 Abrams tank in Ashraf, Iraq. He was 35.
• Army 1st Lt. Adam Malson of Rochester Hills died Feb. 19, 2005, by a suicide bomber as he tried to aid an injured Iraqi woman in Baghdad. He was 23.