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Soldier and Berthoud High grad killed by small arms fire in Afghanistan

Thank you for your service to your country. May you rest in peace.
Gabriel D. Conde

A soldier from Colorado was killed in action Monday while serving in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of Defense says Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Berthoud, was killed on April 30 by small arms fire in Tagab District, Afghanistan.

Conde enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 2015 after spending a year studying at the Colorado School of Mines, and had been assigned to the U.S. Army Alaska since April 2016. He enlisted after going to the Colorado School of Mines for a year.

Before that, he wore maroon at Berthoud High as a long distance runner.

He wore the maroon beret of the airborne infantryman and served in the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Conde deployed with the brigade to Afghanistan in September 2017 in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.

A friend, Jason Van Hare, told 9NEWS he was always ready to go on an adventure, whether it was getting into trouble or getting someone else out of it.

"He was always ready to help [and] have fun doing it," Van Hare said. "The community is going to be saddened by the loss."

He said he hopes the Berthoud community - which gave them a picturesque place to play as boys and grow up as young men - will rally around Conde's family.

He is the first Coloradan to be killed in Afghanistan since 2014. Army Private Jacob Wykstra of Thornton was killed in an aircraft crash in Afghanistan four years ago as well.

The last Coloradan to die in action was Capt. William H Dubois on Dec. 1, 2014.

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