Memorial service set for 1st US soldier killed in IS fight

MULDROW, Okla. (AP) – A memorial service has been set for the first American soldier to die in combat against the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Agent Funeral Home says the service honoring Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler will be held Nov. 24 in the eastern Oklahoma town of Muldrow, where Wheeler went to high school.

The 39-year-old was killed on Oct. 22, when he and dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a compound near the city of Kirkuk, freeing approximately 70 Iraqi prisoners from captivity.

Wheeler joined the U.S. Army in 1995, a year after graduating high school. He was deployed 14 times to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Wheeler was a heavily decorated soldier who earned 11 Bronze Star medals and numerous other commendations.

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