Army Ranger Martin Lugo Jr., a 2004 Tucson High Magnet School graduate, was killed in Afghanistan Thursday.
The native Tucsonan's family was notified of his death Thursday morning, his uncle Jesse Lugo said in an e-mail.
Lugo, 24, enlisted in the Army after high school.
He re-enlisted in February because "he had a strong spirit to protect the freedom that we enjoy as Americans," Jesse Lugo wrote in the e-mail.
Friday morning, the Department of Defense said Martin Lugo was killed Aug. 19 in Puli Alam, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.
His mother, Maria Marin, is the principal of the Tucson Unified School District's Wright Elementary School, 4311 E. Linden St.
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She has asked for privacy to grieve with her family and friends, and said information about her son would be released later.
As an Army Ranger, Lugo was "a flexible, highly trained and rapidly deployable light infantry soldier" assigned to special operations, according to an Army website.
Lugo is the 47th service member with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona to be claimed since combat operations began.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@azstarnet.com or 573-4104.
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