A 27-year-old soldier from Oakville was killed this week in an explosion in Iraq, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

Pfc. James F. Costello III was one of three soldiers killed Tuesday in combat in Taji, Iraq. The Pentagon said an improvised explosive device detonated near their Bradley Fighting Vehicle and they subsequently came under small arms fire.

All three soldiers were assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Costello’s family said he was a 1996 graduate of Oakville Senior High School. He played on the school’s hockey team. The Pentagon identified the soldiers killed with Costello as Cpl. Joseph A. Blanco, 25, of Bloomington, Calif., and Pfc. George R. Roehl Jr., 21, of Manchester, N.H.

As of Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that at least 2,364 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,852 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.

OAKVILLE

As a young boy, Oakville native Jamie Costello was a staunch patriot, listening to tales of how his paternal great-grandfather in the U.S. cavalry chased the likes of Pancho Villa.

Costello's maternal grandfather was a second lieutenant in the cavalry as well, so it was fitting that Costello wound up with a cavalry regiment when he enlisted in the Army in 2004.

"He was a history buff, his hero was George Patton, and he felt so strongly about the mission in Iraq," said his mother, Marie Costello.