Area soldier killed in Iraq Wednesday

A local teenager serving in the U.S. Army was killed in Iraq Wednesday.

Jeremy Shank, 18, of Jackson was killed early Wednesday morning local time. He was in the Army's 25th Infantry Division, based in Hawaii. Details on his death were not immediately available.

A U.S. Department of Defense spokesman declined to comment on Shank's death, citing statutes that require at least a 24-hour waiting period following notification of the soldier's family. His family declined comment Wednesday night.

Shank is the second Jackson war death since the Vietnam War. Sgt. Robert Davis, 23, of Jackson, died in Afghanistan on Aug. 19, 2005, when a roadside bomb exploded near his armored vehicle.