In Memoriam

[RICHARD]

THere there NO COMBAT RELATED DEATHS in Iraq in the month of December.

Three did die from non-combat related deaths during the month.

[Grace]

3 January 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.


Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, of Troy, Ill., died Jan. 3 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while supporting combat operations. He was assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan.

[Grace]

3 January 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 3 in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosives devices and small arms fire. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Killed were:

Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, 24, of Yoncalla, Ore.

Spc. Brian R. Bowman, 24, of Crawfordsville, Ind.

Pvt. John P. Dion, 19, of Shattuck, Okla.

[Grace]

30 December 2009

OTTAWA – Four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian reporter embedded with Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) were killed, while four other Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were injured in an IED incident in Kandahar province, on Wednesday December 30, 2009.

The incident occurred 4 km south of Kandahar City at approximately 4:00 p.m., Kandahar time, Wednesday afternoon as a result of an improvised explosive device attack on an armoured vehicle during a patrol.

Killed in action was Sergeant George Miok a member of 41 Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Edmonton, Alberta and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Sergeant Kirk Taylor a member of 84 Independent Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, based in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Corporal Zachery McCormack a member of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, 4th Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Alberta and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Killed in action was Private Garrett William Chidley a member of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba and serving with the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Michelle Lang, a Canwest journalist from Calgary, embedded with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan was killed in the same incident.

Four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were also seriously wounded in the incident. All of the injured were evacuated by helicopter to the Multi-National Medical Facility at Kandahar Airfield. The injured soldiers and civilian are reported to be in stable condition.

[Grace]

UNITED KINGDOM

31 December 2009

Sapper David Watson, 21, Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. 49 Field Squadron (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 33 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers

Died of wounds sustained when a roadside bomb detonated near Patrol Base Blenheim in the Sangin region of Helmand province, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

UNITED KINGDOM

3 January 2010

It is with great regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Private Robert Hayes, 19, of 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday 3 January 2010.

Private Robert Hayes was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device blast while conducting a security patrol south of Check Point Paraang in southern Nad e-Ali, Helmand province. He had deployed to Afghanistan with C (Essex) Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment (Vikings), attached to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Battle Group.

[cassiesmom]

3 January 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.


Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, of Troy, Ill., died Jan. 3 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while supporting combat operations. He was assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan.

I heard about this on the news last night. This young man leaves behind a wife and a new baby, just born in October 2009, that he had never met. How very, very sad.

[Grace]

I heard about this on the news last night. This young man leaves behind a wife and a new baby, just born in October 2009, that he had never met. How very, very sad.

Yes, it is very sad. This entire mess becomes sadder every day.

[Grace]

5 January 2010

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

Spc. David A. Croft Jr., 22, of Plant City, Fla., died Jan. 5 in Baghdad, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

[Grace]

From the NY Times, an article about the murder of the CIA agents.

[Grace]

From CNN -

London, England (CNN) -- A British journalist was killed and a second wounded in Afghanistan when the vehicle in which they were traveling struck an improvised explosive device, the Ministry of Defence said Sunday.

Rupert Hamer, defense correspondent for the Sunday Mirror newspaper, and photographer Philip Coburn were embedded with the U.S. Marine Corps and were accompanying a patrol near Nawa in southern Afghanistan when the explosion occurred Saturday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Despite the best efforts of medics at the scene, Mr. Hamer died of his wounds," the statement said. "Mr. Coburn remains in a serious but stable condition."

A U.S. Marine and a member of the Afghan National Army were also killed in the explosion, the ministry said. Four U.S. Marines were seriously injured.

"Both Rupert Hamer and Phil Coburn accompanied me on my most recent trip to Afghanistan," said British Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth in the statement. "I got to know them well and I was impressed by their hard work and professionalism. My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families, friends and colleagues of both men at this extremely distressing time."

In recent weeks, the ministry had worked with Hamer on a special Christmas edition of the Sunday Mirror, containing messages for deployed personnel from their families, Ainsworth said.

"The sacrifice of service personnel is well documented and rightly respected, but this news demonstrates the risks also faced by journalists who keep the public informed of events on the front line," he said.

Hamer is the second journalist to die in Afghanistan in recent weeks. On December 30, Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, 34, died along with four Canadian soldiers when a roadside bomb struck their armored vehicle in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

According to a tally kept by Reporters without Borders, Hamer would be the 20th journalist to die in Afghanistan, and the 12th foreign journalist, since September 11, 2001.