Michael Girdano's family watched him achieve a lifelong dream when he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in May 2007.

For the past year, he trained at Fort Leonard Wood Army Base in Missouri for his deployment to Afghanistan in June.

On Friday, his parents Robert and Cynthia Girdano of Kiskiminetas, Armstrong County, were notified that their son -- described as an outstanding athlete and scholar -- was killed in what appeared to be a roadside bombing just a month after he arrived in Afghanistan.

Lt. Girdano, a 2003 graduate of Apollo-Ridge High School, is the third graduate of the rural school to be killed since the war on terror began in Afghanistan and Iraq. The others were Army Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker, 34, of Apollo, who was killed in Baghdad May 5, 2003, and Army Spec. Joshua Henry, 21, of Apollo, who was killed Sept. 20, 2004 in Tikrit.

Tina Girdano, who is an Air Force airman first class, said the Girdano family was told Friday night her brother was among five people in a military vehicle that was blown up by an improvised explosive device.

"Everything is a blur right now and we don't know anything for sure," said Ms. Girdano, who is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Kentucky. "But I heard there were five casualties overall, one interpreter and the other four were soldiers."

The Army has made no official announcement about the deaths.

Ms. Girdano said the news came as a shock to the family, whose members kept in close contact with Lt. Girdano by telephone and computer during the month he was in Afghanistan. Ms. Girdano said her brother had talked with one of his friends and had been in contact with his mother shortly before he died.

Lt. Girdano was in Afghanistan for such a short time that he had not yet received several "care packages" that his mother had sent to him, his sister said. They will be directed to the other soldiers in his unit, she said.

Ms. Girdano said her brother was originally supposed to ship out on July 25, but his deployment was moved up to June 23 because of increasing terrorist activity in Afghanistan in recent months. Shortly after he arrived in the country, a group of U.S. soldiers was killed.

"He knew of those guys but he didn't know them," said Adam Ross, of Apollo, Lt. Girdano's friend since seventh grade. Lt. Girdano was last home in May, when he served as best man at Mr. Ross' wedding.

"His main goal since seventh grade was that he wanted to go to West Point and he knew what it took to get there," Mr. Ross said. "He was an outstanding student, always dedicated to his school work, but he also knew how to have fun. He was an A-plus guy."

Mr. Ross said that Lt. Girdano kept in touch with a group of friends from home while he attended West Point and during his military service in the past year.

"He was a great kid, a perfect gentleman. Everyone got along with him. He always found a way to make you laugh," Mr. Ross said.

At Apollo-Ridge High School, Lt. Girdano was a captain of the football team and a member of the baseball team. He was also a member of the National Honor Society and other academic clubs.

"He was among the best and the brightest, and he went on to pursue his dream attending West Point," said William Kerr, superintendent of the Armstrong School District and a former superintendent of the Apollo-Ridge School District. "He was just a natural leader."

Mr. Kerr, who wrote a letter of recommendation for Lt. Girdano when he was applying to West Point, said Lt. Girdano spoke to a crowd of about 4,000 people who had gathered two years ago for fireworks during the annual Apollo Moon Landing celebration in Apollo. The fireworks were dedicated to military veterans. Lt. Girdano, who was a military academy cadet at the time, got a standing ovation, Dr. Kerr said.

In addition to his parents and sister, Lt. Girdano is survived by a brother, Nunzio of Florida; maternal grandparents Michael and Mary Ferkatch of Penn Hills; and paternal grandparents Robert and Dora Girdano, also of Penn Hills.