A 34-year-old sailor from Anaheim died Thursday in Iraq of wounds sustained in an IED blast, according to the U.S. Navy.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan was serving in an advisory capacity to Iraqi coalition forces when he was killed, the Navy said in a brief news release Friday.
Finan was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3, based at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego County.
He died in northern Iraq after an improvised explosive device blast, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a separate release.
“The entire Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) family offers our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family and loved ones of the Sailor we lost,” said Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command/NECC Pacific, in the Navy’s release.
Finan’s unit locates, identifies, renders safe and disposes of explosive ordnance, including chemical and nuclear weapons, according to an earlier Navy statement.