Brooksville family mourns death of soldier KIA

It's like a nightmare, Abrill Edwards said. It's like something you hear about on the news, and you just don't want it to be your loved one.

This time it was her loved one. A family is mourning the death of a beloved Brooksville soldier, which came at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Clarence Williams III, 23, graduated from Hernando High in 2008, joined the military the following year and never looked back. His sister, Edwards, spoke with him just last Saturday.

"He just sounded like he had a lot on his mind then," said Edwards. "But he doesn't like to worry me because I'm his little sister. He was being big brother, it doesn't even seem real, it does not."

Word that Williams, who was a U.S. Army military police officer, had died has still not sunk in yet with Edwards.

"The last time he called me was Saturday, 2:15," she said. "He said, 'Hey Sis,' and I said ‘Hey Bro, how you doing?' He said, ‘I'm doing good.' And I said, ‘I love you' and he said, ‘I love you too.'"

The Brooksville man was one of six Americans killed in a single blast in Afghanistan, when the armored vehicle they were riding in struck a planted bomb. 

"I love my brother, and I know he had a relationship with God," said Edwards. "That's why I'm really at peace. I know he's with Jesus right now. There's no doubt in my mind. I know he is."

An in-uniform Army Chaplin came to the family's house Monday, and Edwards said her mother knew the minute she got the knock on the door it was not good news.

His father, who is a corporal with the Florida Highway Patrol, told us off-camera his son was deployed to Afghanistan in February, for what was supposed to be a nine-month tour.

He was to come home the middle of this month, but the family doesn't know yet when his body will be brought back to the U.S. for a proper burial.

They have peace of mind knowing his Aunt Daphina Williams, who runs a funeral business in Ocala, will be handling every detail with love.

"It's just the peace of mind that it's going to be handled properly and just to give the family some comfort," Williams said.

"Just glad my brother doesn't have to fight any more wars anymore, his battle on earth is just over you know," said Edwards. "He's in heaven now.  I'll be able to see him one day. It's just hard now, hurts, I can't call him anymore.  He'll be here in spirit."

The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. The terrorist group seems to be making a violent resurgence in Afghanistan.