In Memoriam

[Grace]

5 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Eric M. Nettleton, 26, of Wichita, Kan., died Jan. 5, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan of wounds suffered in Dehjawz-e Hasanzay when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.

[Grace]

7 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Joseph R. Giese, 24, of Winder, Ga., died Jan. 7 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

[Grace]

5 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died January 5 of wounds suffered at Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device.

Killed were:

Sgt. 1st Class Robert W. Pharris, 48, of Seymour, Mo. He was assigned to the Missouri National Guard Agri-Business Development Team IV, Jefferson City, Mo.

Spc. Christian J. Romig, 24, of Kenner, La. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

[Grace]

7 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died Jan. 7 of wounds suffered at Logar Province, Afghanistan when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.

Killed were:

Spc. Ethan C. Hardin, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., and

Pfc. Ira B. Laningham, IV, 22, of Zapata, Texas.

[Grace]

7 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Pfc. Robert J. Near, 21, of Nampa, Idaho, died Jan. 7 at Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

[Grace]

France

Cpl. Herve Guinaud
From: Poitiers, France
Age: 42
Unit: Régiment d'Infanterie de Chars de Marine (Marine Armored Infantry Regiment)
Died: January 8, 2011

Died when his armored vehicle struck a roadside bomb during an operation in southern Kapisa province, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

Vietnam

Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Col. James E. Dennany, 34, of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Maj. Robert L. Tucci, 27, of Detroit, will be buried as a group Jan. 14, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery.

On Nov. 12, 1969, Dennany and Tucci were flying the number three aircraft of three F-4Ds escorting an AC-130 gunship on a night strike mission over Laos. After the gunship attacked six trucks and set two of them on fire, the AC-130 crew’s night vision equipment was impacted by the glow from the fires. They requested that Tucci attack the remaining trucks. During the attack, gunship crew members observed anti-aircraft artillery gunfire directed at Tucci’s plane followed by a large explosion. No radio transmissions were heard from the F-4D following the attack and no parachutes were seen in the area. An immediate electronic search revealed nothing and no formal search was initiated due to heavy anti-aircraft fire in the area.

Beginning in the mid-1990s analysts at DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) developed case leads they collected from wartime reporting and archival research.

In 1994, a joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) team led by JPAC analyzed leads, interviewed villagers, and surveyed five reported crash sites near the record loss location with negative results.

In 1999, during another joint survey, officials in Ban Soppeng, Laos, turned over remains later determined to be human, two .38 caliber pistols and other crew-related equipment that villagers had recovered from a nearby crash site. Between 1999 and 2009, other joint U.S.-L.P.D.R. teams pursued leads, interviewed villagers, and conducted three excavations. They recovered aircraft wreckage, human remains, crew-related equipment and personal effects.

JPAC scientists used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains.

With the accounting of these airmen, 1,702 service members still remain missing from the conflict.

[Grace]

Denmark

Pfc. Samuel Enig

From: Denmark
Age: 23
Unit: Charlie-Kompagniet, II Bataljon, Den Kongelige Livgarde (Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal Life Guard)
Died: January 9, 2011

Killed when a roadside bomb detonated during a dismounted patrol west of Patrol Base Line, six miles northeast of Gereshk, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

8 January 2011, Tucson, Arizona

Judge John Roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. A graduate of this university and its law school, Judge Roll was recommended for the federal bench by John McCain twenty years ago, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, and rose to become Arizona’s chief federal judge. His colleagues described him as the hardest-working judge within the Ninth Circuit. He was on his way back from attending Mass, as he did every day, when he decided to stop by and say hi to his Representative. John is survived by his loving wife, Maureen, his three sons, and his five grandchildren.

George and Dorothy Morris – “Dot” to her friends – were high school sweethearts who got married and had two daughters. They did everything together, traveling the open road in their RV, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. Saturday morning, they went by the Safeway to hear what their Congresswoman had to say. When gunfire rang out, George, a former Marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. Both were shot. Dot passed away.

A New Jersey native, Phyllis Schneck retired to Tucson to beat the snow. But in the summer, she would return East, where her world revolved around her 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 year-old great-granddaughter. A gifted quilter, she’d often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes sew aprons with the logos of the Jets and the Giants to give out at the church where she volunteered. A Republican, Gshe took a liking to Gabby, and wanted to get to know her better.

Dorwin and Mavy Stoddard grew up in Tucson together – about seventy years ago. They moved apart and started their own respective families, but after both were widowed they found their way back here, to, as one of Mavy’s daughters put it, “be boyfriend and girlfriend again.” When they weren’t out on the road in their motor home, you could find them just up the road, helping folks in need at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. A retired construction worker, Dorwan spent his spare time fixing up the church along with their dog, Tux. His final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers.

Everything Gabe Zimmerman did, he did with passion – but his true passion was helping people. As Gabby’s outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own, seeing to it that seniors got the Medicare benefits they had earned, that veterans got the medals and care they deserved, that government was working for ordinary folks. He died doing what he loved – talking with people and seeing how he could help. Gabe is survived by his parents, Ross and Emily, his brother, Ben, and his fiancée, Kelly, who he planned to marry next year.

And then there is nine year-old Christina Taylor Green. Christina was an A-student, a dancer, a gymnast, and a swimmer. She often proclaimed that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her Little League team, no one put it past her. She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age, and would remind her mother, “We are so blessed. We have the best life.” And she’d pay those blessings back by participating in a charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

[Grace]

12 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 12, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Killed were:

Sgt. Omar Aceves, 30, of El Paso, Texas.

Spc. Jarrid L. King, 20, of Erie, Pa.

Pfc. Benjamin G. Moore, 23, of Robbinsville, N.J.

They were assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

[Grace]

12 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Zainah C. Creamer, 28, of Texarkana, Texas, died Jan. 12, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device. She was assigned to the 212th Military Police Detachment, Headquaters Battalion, Fort Belvoir, Va.

[Grace]

12 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Maj. Evan J. Mooldyk, 47, of Ranch Murieto, Calif., died Jan. 12 in Khowst province, Afghanistan, in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 19th Sustainment Command, 377th Theater Sustainment Command, Belle Chasse, La.

[Grace]

12 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Pfc. Zachary S. Salmon, 21, of Harrison, Ohio, died Jan. 12 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

[Grace]

15 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation New Dawn.

Spc. Jose A. Torre, Jr., 21, of Garden Grove, Calif., died Jan.15 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with a rocket-propelled grenade. He was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

[Grace]

15 January 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation New Dawn.

They died Jan. 15 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an Iraqi soldier from the unit with which they were training shot them with small arms fire. They were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Sgt. Michael P. Bartley, 23, of Barnhill, Ill.

Spc. Martin J. Lamar, 43, of Sacramento, Calif.