A Long Island native was killed in Iraq just days before he was scheduled to return home.
The U.S. military says Army Sgt. Juan Carlos Baldeosingh, who grew up in Hempstead, was killed with four other soldiers in Baghdad when an IED hit their Humvee.
He was among the last four soldiers killed as the U.S. military pulled out of key Iraqi towns and cities.
Baldeosingh was on temporary leave from Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, N.C., where hospital officials said he served as director of the risk management and safety department, Newsday reported. He leaves behind his wife, Rebecca, and three daughters - Isabella, Kylie and Emily, the paper said.
His sister, Jennyfer Baldeosingh, said her brother was "a very fun-loving guy, a family guy," who called home every night, according to the paper. He'd spoken to his family on Sunday night, and told his mother he'd call Monday night.