Nicholas P. Olson, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Nicholas P. Olson, 22

Army, Specialist
Based: Ft. Lewis, Wash.
2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: September 18, 2007
Muqdadiya, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Novato
High School: Novato High (Novato)

A 22-year-old Army specialist from Novato was one of three soldiers killed by a bomb in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, the Pentagon said today.

Spc. Nicholas P. Olson died Tuesday after an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations, the Defense Department said. No additional details about the incident were released.

He is survived by his wife and 10-month-old child, said assistant principal Dan Curtaz of Novato High School, which Olson attended when he lived in Marin.

Olson graduated from San Marin High School, a continuation school, after attending Novato High, Curtaz said. Curtaz taught physical education at the time and remembered Olson as a "good kid."

Olson enlisted in the Army in October 2004 and was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, known as the Stryker Brigade Combat team, out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was decorated with the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Also killed in the explosion were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III, 23, of Pensacola, Fla., and Spc. Donald E. Valentine III, 21, of Orange Park, Fla.
-- From the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more about Army Specialist Nicholas P. Olson here, here and here.

Nicholas P. Olson's father, Paul Olson (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)

Nicholas P. Olson's mother, Anita Moran, stands in her front yard Thursday in Cobb. (Lake County Record-Bee/Mandy Feder)