Sgt. Melvin Mora Lopez of Puerto Rico died in a mortar blast in Iraq.
Dozens of relatives and friends wept as a U.S. soldier killed by a mortar blast in Iraq was buried Monday in his hometown in Puerto Rico. Among U.S. troops killed in Iraq, at least 17 have been Puerto Ricans or of Puerto Rican descent. [more] Pictured above U.S. Army Reserve soldiers lift the U.S. flag off the coffin of Sgt. Melvin Mora Lopez during his burial Monday in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Mora Lopez, 28, was killed June 6 in a mortar attack at Camp Cooke, on the Al Taji air base, north of Baghdad, Iraq. Gia Morales / the Associated Press