Fort Drum soldier, 28, killed in Afghanistan

FORT DRUM — Friends and family members of Sgt. Ari R. Cullers said he was killed Sunday in Afghanistan.

The death of the Connecticut soldier has not been confirmed by the Department of Defense or Fort Drum officials, but an administrator from Sgt. Cullers’s high school said the school heard about Sgt. Cullers’s death through social media and confirmed the information with a family member.

“This was brought to our attention by someone who saw the information on Facebook,” said Rebecca Brown Amanti, assistant principal of Waterford High School. “We will of course honor him in some way, but we are waiting until the Army confirms his death.”

Sgt. Cullers, 28, was a member of the Army’s Headquarters, Headquarters Company, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The Day, a daily newspaper in New London Ct., reported that Sgt. Cullers was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade as he was repairing a bulldozer in Kandahar province.

Sgt. Cullers graduated from Waterford High in 2001. He is the third graduate to be killed in combat in the Middle East, Ms. Amanti said.

“He’ll be remembered for his kind heart, winning smile and great sense of humor,” she said.

According to Sgt. Cullers’s Facebook page, he joined the Army in March 2005. He became a squad leader last month.

He was a sports fan, noting on his page that the New York Giants were his favorite football team and Michael Jordan his favorite athlete. His page also noted an interest in the Spartan Race, a global obstacle racing series. According to a race description, people who compete “are people looking to live life to the fullest.”

Ms. Amanti said Sgt. Cullers did just that.

“He was one of my students all four years of high school,” she said. “He always had a very cheery personality, was always very friendly and was always kind to his classmates. He was loved by so many people.”

Fort Drum will not release details on a soldier’s death until it is reported by the Department of Defense. The DOD, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not released any details.