Westmoreland Co. Native Killed In Afghanistan

VANDERGRIFT (KDKA/AP) -- A Westmoreland County native was one of the two Americans killed this week in Afghanistan.

40-year-old army civilian Michael Sauro died Wednesday after a small arms attack near a coalition base in Kabul. Sauro was originally from Vandergrift.

He was involved in the NATO mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces.

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"Mike was the type of person who no matter what you asked of him, he was always willing to lend a helping hand to everybody," said Deborah Schreiner, chief of HAZMAT Training at the Defense Ammunition Center, Oklahoma, where Sauro was assigned. "He was such a joy to work with and always so upbeat."

He traveled to Afghanistan last month for his third deployment and was scheduled to return to the U.S. in March.

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