<p>4-8-2007 FREDERICKSBURG, Texas ? Residents of this Hill Country town said the combat death of 27-year-old 1st Lt. Phillip I. Neel is a personal reminder of the war’s cost.</p>
<p>Neel, a 1998 graduate of Fredericksburg High School, was killed Sunday in a grenade attack in Balad, the Department of Defense said Monday.</p>
<p>“As a community, we’re all stunned by his death. It really brings the war more into reality for us,” said Natalie Smith, Neel’s high school English teacher.</p>
<p>Neel graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2005. He was assigned to Fort Hood’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.</p>
<p>Neel’s father, retired Colonel Leroy Neel, and his family were notified on Sunday.</p>
<p>“About 200 yards down the road, my wife spotted a white van waiting for us,” he said. “I asked them, ‘Is he still with us?’ And they said, ‘We better go inside and talk.’ And you can interpret that as I did</p>