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Graduate Justin Buxbaum, 22, is killed in what's called a non-combat incident while serving in Afghanistan.

By TREVOR MAXWELL, Staff Writer May 28, 2008

Last month, when she learned that her nephew was being deployed overseas for the third time, South Portland High teacher Laurie Wood posted a card for him at the school office.

More than 30 teachers and students signed the card to Justin Buxbaum, a 2004 graduate.

"We wanted him to know people here were thinking about him," Wood said Tuesday, wiping away tears. "I just really hope he got it."

Buxbaum, a 22-year-old U.S. Army specialist, was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend. His mother, who recently moved from South Portland to Georgia, was notified on Monday, Wood and other relatives said.

The Army had not officially released information about Buxbaum's death as of Tuesday night.

Buxbaum is the third South Portland High graduate since 2001 to be killed while serving overseas. No other town or city in Maine has lost more than two people during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Don Buxbaum of Chebeague Island, Justin Buxbaum's grandfather, said the large extended family in Maine is reeling.

"I chatted with him just last week," said Buxbaum, who communicated regularly with his grandson over the Internet. "We're all feeling it."

He said his daughter, Julie, was notified of the death around 6 p.m. Monday by Army officials. They said her son was killed in a non-combat situation, apparently from an accidental gunshot to the abdomen.

Don Buxbaum said the family does not know details about the death, such as who fired the shot and under what circumstances.

Don Buxbaum said his grandson grew up in Portland, moved to South Portland before entering high school, and spent a lot of time with family on Chebeague Island.

Julie Buxbaum is a single mother who raised Justin and his younger brother, William, who is now in eighth grade at a school in Georgia.

Justin Buxbaum decided while still in high school to sign up for the U.S. Army Reserves, and he trained on weekends with a unit in New Hampshire. He thought it would give him opportunities to learn trades and earn money for college.

Buxbaum deployed to Iraq for the first time in 2005. In July of that year, he was interviewed for an article in Defend America, published by the U.S. Department of Defense. He was driving a specialized armored vehicle called a Buffalo, and his job was to search the roadsides for hidden bombs.

"It is a very rewarding feeling knowing that the job that we perform may save someone's life so that they can go back home to their families," Buxbaum said in the article. "You are always going to be scared, and I have been. But I have a lot of faith in my equipment and my training."

After returning from his first tour, Buxbaum enlisted with the Army full time. He went for further training at Fort Hood, Texas, and was sent for a second tour in Iraq. He spent some time in Maine last year on leave from Fort Hood.

Buxbaum was deployed to Afghanistan early last month. He did not discuss his location or mission with family members, his grandfather said.

Laurie Wood, the aunt who had helped Justin Buxbaum succeed as a student in South Portland, said he had talked about eventually becoming an elementary school teacher.

"He was the kindest, most genuinely warm and loving young man," Wood said. "You'd have a family picnic and he'd be the one playing catch with the little kids, and dragging three of them around on his shoulders."

Buxbaum was in the same 2004 graduating class as Angel Rosa, who enlisted with the U.S. Marines a few years after getting out of school. Rosa was killed on March 13, 2007, while serving on a Marine expeditionary unit in the Anbar province of western Iraq. He was 21.

U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Swiger, 24, died on March 25, 2007. Swiger was serving his third tour of duty in Iraq when a suicide bomber attacked his truck convoy in Diyala province. He graduated from South Portland in 2000.

The deaths of Rosa and Swiger...