PRESIDENT'S HERO KILLED IN FIREFIGHT

September 13, 2003 -- An Army special forces soldier who shook hands with President Bush last year while he was being honored for his role in the war on terror was killed in Iraq yesterday.

Master Sgt. Kevin Morehead, 33, was one of two U.S. soldiers killed in a pre-dawn firefight in the town of Ramadi, officials said.

Morehead, who was deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11, was among 10 soldiers who last year placed a piece of World Trade Center debris in an Afghan field during a ceremony.

Morehead was scheduled to return home in two weeks. Tomorrow was to be his 34th birthday.