Associated Press - December 3, 2009 11:14 AM ET

GEORGETOWN, Ill. (AP) - Friends and relatives of U.S. Army Sgt. Kenneth Nichols say the eastern Illinois soldier died Tuesday in Afghanistan. He was promoted just a day earlier.

Alaxandrea Nichols says the Army told her that her 27-year-old husband died when his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Nichols says her husband became a sergeant on Monday. She says he also served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.

Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School Principal Steve Sliva says Nichols graduated from the school in 2000. Sliva says Nichols was on the football team and a member of FFA while in school.

In addition to his wife, Nichols is survived by four children, ages 6, 4, 3 and 9 months.

Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

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