LOUISA — A soldier from Lawrence County was among the casualties in a roadside bomb in Pakistan on Wednesday.
Matthew Sluss-Tiller, a 1993 graduate of Lawrence County High School, was one of three American troops who died in the blast, which occurred outside a girls’ school near in northwestern Pakistan. Three students also died in the blast.
Various news organizations reported that Sluss-Tiller and his fellow soldiers were part of a small unit that trains Pakistani Frontier Troops responsible for security near the country’s border with Afghanistan. Their deaths were the first known U.S. military fatalities in Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions near the Afghan border.
Journalists traveling with the American convoy said the blast hit the vehicle in which the soldiers were riding, an indication that the soldiers were targeted.
Brenda Thornbury, an art teacher at LCHS, said Sluss-Tiller was one of her students in high school, and that the two remained friends even after he graduated.
She said Sluss-Tiller would always stop by her classroom to visit whenever he came to the school to see his mother, Jane Blankenship, a special-needs teacher.
On Thursday, Thornbury recalled Sluss-Tiller as a “wonderful, well-mannered and respectful” young man who expressed a desire to be in the military all throughout high school.
“He was always eager to do whatever he needed to do to serve his country,” she said.
Sluss-Tiller also was deeply religious and had a strong faith in God, she said.
Thornbury said she learned of Sluss-Tiller’s death Wednesday night, and that the news hit her hard.
“It just doesn’t seem real,” she said.
She also said Sluss-Tiller’s death was a major topic of conversation among the adults at the high school on Thursday.
Thornbury said she hadn’t spoken to Sluss-Tiller since his mother retired several years ago and moved to North Carolina to be closer to her son, his wife, Melissa, and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Hannah.
“She wanted to be able to baby-sit and help take care of her grandchild,” she said.
Sluss-Tiller and his wife were high school sweethearts, Thornbury said, although she said she didn’t know Melissa Sluss-Tiller very well.
Matthew Sluss-Tiller was based out of Fort Bragg. His wife works as a counselor at the base.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Soldier from Lawrence killed
Sluss-Tiller dies in Pakistan bombing
- Local News
-
-
TIM PRESTON: Karats, peaches, wings and brews, old couches and new beauty
Weekly business column from Tim Preston.
-
Come on in!
It’s time to grab a towel, some sunscreen and your shades — pools in the Tri-State are nearing their opening dates and are bound to provide some days of fun this summer.
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
They were running with the big dogs Saturday in Grayson.
-
A Smith Branch Legacy
Six generations of Robinsons have called Smith Branch home.
-
Court battle heating up over stretch of blacktop
The court fight is just heating up over a block-long stretch of blacktop in Grayson.
More parties are piling on in the lawsuit accusing Grayson of passing an illegal ordinance to take ownership of the pavement. -
Regional jails ‘a total failure’
As the debate over a proposal to create a new Northeast Regional Jail Authority continues, some officials with the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville are watching closely.
-
Beshear in West Liberty to help in tornado recovery
State legislatures and Gov. Steve Beshear gathered in West Liberty on Friday to sign three bills that will help in the recovery efforts of the tornado-stricken town.
-
Students get more than a scoop’s share
There’s nothing more refreshing than ice cream on a hot day, and no one knows that better than the principal of Hager Elementary School in Ashland.
-
2 school aides part of drug arrests
Two elementary school aides and three other people were arrested Thursday in a Carter County drug investigation.
-
5K run main attraction for Final Friday in Greenup
Greenup’s Final Friday included the usual live entertainment and car show, but a 5K run also attracted many to town Friday evening.
- More Local News Headlines
-
TIM PRESTON: Karats, peaches, wings and brews, old couches and new beauty
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
