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2003 interview foreshadowed fatal IED attack

In 2003, Army Capt. Brian Mescall examined the remains of a Humvee destroyed by a rocket-propelled grenade in central Baghdad, an attack that injured three soldiers.

Six years and one promotion later, Maj. Mescall lost his life when a roadside bomb detonated near his armored Humvee in southern Afghanistan.

That foreshadowing is among the latest details to emerge about Mescall, whose family lived in Hopkinton for a dozen years. He died Friday with two other soldiers. While the schedule is not yet set, an army casualty officer confirmed that the 33-year-old will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Mescall is survived by his wife and son, as well as a brother, two sisters and his parents, John and Peggy. The family were in Alabama this week to be with Mescall's widow, casualty officer Maj. Mark Kalin said, and could not be reached for comment. His parents, former Hopkinton residents, moved to Lowell in 2006.

Neighbors have said the Mescall family moved from the South to Hopkinton's Colella Farm Road in 1994. Mescall transferred that year from Framingham State College to The Citadel, according to the Charleston, S.C., military school, graduating in 1997 with a history degree.

A career military man, Mescall served two tours in Iraq, The Citadel said, one as a tank company commander and one as a leading a military transition team.

In a 2003 interview, Mescall described the Baghdad grenade attack to The New York Daily News as "one of those things that you fear in a way that you fear you will lose your edge. Partially, it's a wake-up call."

Receiving the news of Mescall's death, Hopkinton selectmen lowered the Town Hall flags yesterday to half-staff.

"His sacrifice leaves us with a debt that cannot be repaid," the board said in a statement. "As we go on with our everyday lives, we are continually reminded of the sacrifices young men and women make on our behalf."

Peter Chisholm, a spokesman for Framingham State College, also offered condolences to the Mescall family on behalf of the school.

Michael Morton can be reached at 508-626-4338 or mmorton@cnc.com.