WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military officials say a North Carolina native is among three soldiers who were killed when a bomb exploded near their military vehicle in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense said Monday that 24-year-old Spc. Jason R. Parsons of Lenoir, N.C., died Jan. 9 in Zabul province.

Also killed when 33-year-old Maj. Brian M. Mescall of Hopkinton, Mass., and 24-year-old Spc. Joseph M. Hernandez, 24, of Hammond, Ind.

The three were assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment in Hohenfels, Germany.

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