A.J. Castro The Westlake High School football program is mourning the loss of former linebacker Andrew Jordan “A.J.” Castro.

The 20-year-old 2008 Westlake High graduate and U.S. Army specialist with the 101st Airborne Division was one of two soldiers killed Aug. 28 in a land mine explosion in Afghanistan.

“A.J. was one of the best our society had to offer,” said Westlake head football coach Jim Benkert. “He made positive choices in his life; it’s just a tragedy to lose him.”

The men were in a small village when the Taliban struck, said Hector Castro, A.J.’s father, a Winnetka resident.

“They were running to help a group of soldiers being attacked and when they ran toward them, the soldier with A.J. stepped on a land mine that killed them both,” the father said.

A.J. Castro, who was stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., had been in Afghanistan for about three weeks. He was deployed about three days after his brother Ryan returned from Iraq. Ryan Castro is a sergeant with the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

A.J. Castro is the second Westlake High football player to die in Afghanistan in the past two years. In March 2009, former homecoming king and Westlake football player Frankie Toner, 26, a Navy lieutenant, died during a tour of duty in the war-torn country.

The family will host a memorial service at St. Jude Catholic Church in Westlake Village. The burial will take place at Pierce Brothers Mortuary. No times have been announced.

The local solider was among 49 U.S. troops who died in August attacks in Afghanistan’s southern and eastern regions.