A Columbus soldier is one of two who died in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan Wednesday. Jonathon Michael Hunter is a 2011 graduate of Columbus East High School and was killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive laden car into a NATO convoy outside Kandahar. The Taliban took responsibility for the attack.
Hunter's father, Mark Hunter, says his son was providing security for the convoy that was attacked.
The 59-year-old Columbus, Indiana, man says his son was "a loving kid who put everybody else first."
"He had been there 32 days. I'm former military, me and his uncle both, so we know the dangers," Hunter said.
He said his son, who got married last October and has an older brother and two stepsisters, was cheerful, loving and religious.
"If you were down, he would cheer you up and he was God-loving. He was raised in the church," he said.
The family later issued a statement saying in part, "Jonathon loved his unit and serving his country and was excited about the opportunity to go to Afghanistan to do his part in fighting injustice."
Hunter said he will travel Friday to Dover Air Force Base to retrieve his son's remains and that funeral plans were being determined by him, Jonathon's mother and Jonathon's wife, Whitney.
After graduating from Columbus East High School in 2011, he said his son spent a short time in Nashville, Tennessee, pursuing his dream of becoming a music producer before he enrolled at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where he studied criminology and business.
But Hunter said his son eventually left ISU and joined the Army in April 2014 because he didn't want to burden him with paying for his college.
"After he got into school - and of course we were struggling with bills, to pay for it - he decided to join. He said, 'Dad, I know that going into the military I can get a free education,'" Mark Hunter said.
He said his family has a history of military service that dates back to the Civil War.
"I'm just proud of him. He was a great soldier. He made (sergeant) in a little over three years, which is pretty rare, they tell me," Hunter said.
Hunter was a member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Hunter family, friends, and the BCSC community during this difficult time," the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation says in a statement. "We express our deep appreciation for all who have served, continue to serve, in the military in order to protect the rights and freedoms we are blessed to have."
A statement from Columbus East High School says this is the second graduate who has died in service in Afghanistan; the first was Jeremy McQueary, who was killed in 2010 at age 27.
"Columbus East High School & The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation are proud of the commitment and dedication of these two young men in service to their country," the statement says.
"I am saddened to hear that Columbus native, Jonathon Michael Hunter, has been killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan," said Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana) in a statement. "His service and sacrifice in defense of our country will never be forgotten."
The U.S. military in Afghanistan says that four American troops were wounded in the same attack. A statement released in Kabul on Thursday says their injuries are not life threatening.
It followed an unprecedented delay in releasing the American casualty tolls in the attack in southern Afghanistan - reflecting an emerging disagreement on how the military should handle information about American casualties.
Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has ordered the new procedure in releasing casualty tolls, prompting criticism of giving the public less information and transparency.
