S. Jersey soldier killed in Afghan attack returns to U.S.

The flag-draped coffin of Army Spc. Michael Scusa of Villas, in Lower Township, Cape May County, arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware today along with other soldiers killed in a furious battle with insurgents in Afghanistan.

Scusa, 22, was one of eight U.S. troops killed after attacks Saturday at two remote outposts in the province of Nuristan near the Pakistan border.

A graduate of Lower Cape May Regional High School, he was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Scusa's wife Alyssa, whom he married a year and a half ago, lives in Fountain, Colo., with the couple's one-year-old son, Connor.

Relatives of Scusa and other fallen soldiers were on hand as the remains were taken from a C-17 cargo plane. Soldiers saluted during the solemn transfer.