Detroit-area soldier dies in Kandahar

FERNDALE, Mich. (AP) - The Pentagon says a 29-year-old Army Reserve soldier from suburban Detroit who was on his third combat deployment has died in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department says Staff Sgt. Matthew J. Leach of Ferndale died Tuesday in Kandahar.

Military spokesman Major Alex Johnson at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., says Leach was found unresponsive on the ground. Johnson says the cause of death wasn't immediately determined.

Johnson says Leach enlisted in the Army in 2003 and served until 2008, with two tours of duty in Iraq. Johnson says Leach then entered the Army Reserve and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Leach was part of the 1/334th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Training Division based in Fraser.

Johnson says he didn't immediately know the nature of Leach's training assignment.

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Members of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties who died in 2012 supporting military operations in Afghanistan:

-- Marine Pfc. Steven P. Stevens II, 23, of Detroit died June 22 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province. He was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

-- Army Sgt. Joseph Lilly, 25, of Flint died June 14 from injuries he sustained June 12 when he was hit by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan. He was a combat engineer serving with the 18th Engineer Company from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

-- Army Spc. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez, 21, of Salinas, Calif., died May 26 in in Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. His wife is from Muskegon, Mich. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

-- Army Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark, 43, a former resident of Spencerport, N.Y, and Addison, Mich., died May 1 in Tarin Kowt. He was a nurse assigned to A Company, Troop Command at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. His wife was in Texas chatting with him via Skype when he collapsed.

-- Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City was killed Jan. 5 along with two other airmen when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Helmand province. He was part of the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.