Soldier home on leave dies in car crash

[unhappycamper]

Soldier home on leave dies in car crash
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 26, 2007 22:01:17 EST

ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Funeral services will be held Wednesday for a 20-year-old soldier killed in a car crash while home on leave from the war in Iraq.

Army Pfc. Philip Diaferio, of Endicott, died Saturday at the scene of the crash, which happened at 5:15 a.m. in the town of Union. Speed was a factor, Broome County sheriff’s deputies said. Two passengers in Diaferio’s car were injured.

One of the injured passengers is Amodeni Odofin, 19, of Endwell, a defensive lineman for the University of Akron. Odofin, who played in the university’s season-ending loss Friday against Central Michigan, was in fair condition with a broken leg, deputies said. The other passenger — James Bronson, 20, of Endwell — was treated and released.

Diaferio was deployed to Iraq in September and had been home on leave for about a week before he died, family members said. He was scheduled to return to Iraq on Dec. 5.

Deputies said Diaferio was driving when the car ran off the road, hit a guardrail and went airborne before hitting a tree and coming to rest on its side over an embankment.


Article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_soldiercrash_071126/