FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A 23-year-old soldier from Nassau County and another American were killed Wednesday during an insurgent attack on their unit in the Balkh province in Afghanistan.
Spc. Kelly J. Mixon, of Fernandina Beach, and Sgt. James A. Ayube II, 25, of Salem, Mass., were killed by someone who detonated an improvised explosive device he was wearing as a suicide vest.
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The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany. Mixon joined the Army two years ago, where he was trained as a sniper.
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His body arrived Friday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Funeral plans and other details were not available.
Mixon was married and a graduate of Fernandina Beach High School. He has a younger brother and sister who live in the area.
Mixon's step-grandfather, Harold Bargeron, who went to Dover for the arrival of his remains, said Kelly enjoyed being home with family at Thanksgiving.
"He was a fine young man, a good soldier I thought," Bargeron said. "Of course, I wasn't with him while he was in service, but he told some stories about his basic training and all that. He was good, and he loved to fish."
Before deploying, Kelly was a previous member of the Jaguars D-Line, and friends say he was at the Nov. 11 game, when the Jaguars honored the military and veterans.
Bargeron said Kelly loved music and was an accomplished chef.