Pfc. Ryan Grady Killed In Afghanistan: Vermont National Guardsman's Body Brought Back To U.S.

Army Pfc. Ryan J. Grady's body was brought to U.S. soil Sunday when the aircraft carrying the slain soldier, father, brother, and husband landed at Dover Air Force Base.

Grady, who was 25, died last Friday when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a improvised explosive device, reports Vermont's Rutland Herald. Four others were seriously injured.

Grady lived in West Burke, Vermont. Once a member of the Oklahoma National Guard, he chose to enlist in the Vermont National Guard because he had heard that the group was likely to see action in Afghanistan, reports the Tulsa World.

Grady, who was one of three brothers enlisted in the military, ate breakfast with his brother Kevin Grady, on the morning of his death. Both served in Afghanistan for the Vermont National Guard.

James Grady, Ryan's brother, described their father's grief to the World. "My dad is not doing very well," James Grady said. "It's the first time I've ever heard him cry."

Grady was an Iraq war veteran and had already received a purple heart for the shrapnel wounds he suffered when the vehicle he was in was struck by an IED.

Grady, a private first class, leaves behind a wife and a six-year-old daughter. He received a posthumous promotion and will be buried as a specialist.