Services set for Riverbank sailor killed in Afghanistan

A memorial service for Navy corpsman James Layton of Riverbank will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Burwood Cemetery on East River Road near Escalon.

Layton, 22, was killed Tuesday in a fierce land battle involving Afghan soldiers, their U.S. trainers and insurgents in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. He was tending to a wounded Marine when they came under a volley of insurgent bullets, killing them both. His body is expected to arrive in the Modesto area Tuesday.

Layton is survived by his mother, Nikki Freitas of Riverbank; his father, Brent Layton of Escalon; brothers, Jonathan, Jesse, Brandon and Sage Layton; sister, Jordan Layton; stepsister, Andrea Freitas; and stepbrother, Jason Freitas.