MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – A 21-year-old Vermont GI was killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle, his family said Tuesday.

U.S. Army Pvt. Adam Muller, of Richmond, a gunner for the 10th Mountain Division who arrived in Iraq just after Labor Day, was killed Monday, according to Susan Wells, a family friend who spoke for Muller’s mother, Kathy.

“He was loved by everyone,” said Wells, whose son was best friends with Muller. “He was a very sweet young man. We’re all devastated and angry at the same time. I think we’re all angry about this war, that so many young men are dying needlessly.”

When Muller signed up in 2006 – to make money to pay off college loans – he was told he’d be providing security for top officials, but he was told two weeks before he shipped out that he’d be a gunner, Wells said.

“We were all very angry about that. He isn’t anyone who could ever hurt a flea,” Wells said Tuesday. “To put him behind a gun was the last thing he needed.”

By midday Tuesday, Muller’s death had not yet been announced by the Department of Defense. But a portion of the 10th Mountain Division was serving in northern Iraq, near the city of Kirkuk, said Benjamin Abel, a civilian spokesman for the division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

The military said four soldiers died Monday after an explosion near their vehicle in Kirkuk province. Another American serviceman died Monday in Anbar Province.

Abel wouldn’t comment about the concerns of Muller’s family. “It would be inappropriate for anyone here in the states to comment on the judgment of a commander in the field,” said Abel.

In a statement, Gov. Jim Douglas said the thoughts and prayers of all Vermonters were with the Muller family. “Our state has paid a heavy toll in this war and we all pray it will soon end,” Douglas said.

Muller was the 25th service member with Vermont ties to die in Iraq. One Vermonter was killed in Afghanistan; another died in natural causes in Kuwait while waiting to go to Iraq.

Muller graduated from Mount Mansfield Union High School in 2004. He studied at Vermont Technical College to become a mechanic and dreamed of becoming a police officer.

“He went into the Army to pay off his college loans,” Wells said. “It’s really a crying shame that in the wealthiest country in the world, people have to go into the army to pay for college.”

Muller had been married for almost a year. Until he left for Iraq, he and his wife were living at Fort Drum. Since then, she has been living with her parents in Richmond, Wells said.

AP-ES-11-06-07 1416EST

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