The Department of Defense today announced the death of a Schofield Barracks soldier who had been deployed to Iraq.

Pfc. Christopher A. McCraw, 23, of Columbia, Miss., died Tuesday in Baghdad, of wounds suffered when he encountered small-arms fire while on dismounted patrol in Nasar Wa Salam, Pentagon officials said.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks.

According to The Columbian Progress newspaper, McCraw, the son of Avon McCraw and Cathy McCraw, both of Columbia, joined the Army in February 2006. He went to basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., where he graduated in June 2006, the newspaper reported. McCraw had been stationed at Schofield before being deployed to Iraq in December 2007.

In Iraq, he was stationed at Camp Liberty outside Baghdad.

McCraw attended Columbia schools until his family moved to North Carolina in the late 1990s, the newspaper said.

He graduated high school there prior to the family moving back to Columbia.