EVANS CITY — Staff Sgt. Eric Holman had disarmed two of three roadside bombs when he moved on to the third Improvised Explosive Device. A moment later, the third bomb exploded — triggered remotely — instantly killing the 39-year-old Evans City man.

“Someone was apparently in the area within radio range and detonated it,” said his father, David Holman, this morning.

“He was killed instantly. He took the full brunt of the blast,” Holman said.

His son died Wednesday in Ghazni province in Afghanistan.

“The military has been tremendous. I can’t say enough how they have taken care of my family,” said Holman, who traveled to Dover Air Force Base on Saturday along with other family members for the transfer of his son from a C-17 military transport plane with a Color Guard.

He will travel to Fort Bragg, N.C., where the 82nd Airborne is stationed, for a memorial service at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Local services will be conducted possibly later this week at the Devlin Funeral Home in Cranberry Township, Holman said.

Eric Holman will be buried at Mt. Nebo Cemetery, next to his grandfather John David Holman, a World War II veteran.