In Memoriam

[Grace]

Lee Archer Of Famed Tuskegee Airmen Dies At Age 90

A member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen has died.

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Archer died Wednesday at Cornell University Medical Center in Manhattan, his son says. He was 90 years old.

Archer was considered the only "ace" pilot in the country's first black fighter group in World War II. He's credited with shooting down four planes during the war.

From the NY Times.

[Grace]

26 January 2010

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

Sgt. Carlos E. Gill, 25, of Fayetteville, N.C., died Jan. 26 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center of an illness. He was evacuated from Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Dec. 19, 2009, where he was supporting combat operations. Gill was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

[Grace]

28 January 2010

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

Pfc. Scott G. Barnett, 24, of Concord, Calif., died Jan. 28 in Tallil, Iraq, of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations. He was assigned to the 412th Aviation Support Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Katterbach, Germany.

[Grace]

May 1968

Soldier Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial.

Army Specialist Lawrence L. Aldrich will be buried in his home town of Fort Worth, Texas tomorrow.

On May 6, 1968, Aldrich was a member of a search-and-clear mission in Binh Dinh Province in what was then South Vietnam. He was last seen with two other Americans engaged in a battle with enemy forces while manning a M-60 machine gun position. An air strike was called in, but one of the bombs inadvertently landed on Aldrich’s position, killing the three soldiers. Members of his unit later recovered the remains of the two other men, but Aldrich could not be found.

In July 1992, a joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam team traveled to the province to investigate the loss. They interviewed a local citizen who remembered a large ground battle in the area in May or June 1968. He took the team to a location where he indicated the remains were buried, but an excavation in 1994 found no evidence of a grave or remains.

Vietnamese officials unilaterally investigated the case in 2006 and interviewed two villagers who recalled finding a body of an American after the battle and burying it where it lay. A second joint investigation in 2007, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, recommended another excavation based on the information provided by the Vietnamese.

The excavation in March 2009 unearthed human remains and other non-biological evidence. The identification of the remains was confirmed by matching the remains with Aldrich’s dental records.

[wombat2u2004]

May 1968

That happened to us to in 1969, they never found very much of him, as he took a direct hit, the artillery shell landed smack bang in the middle of his back.

[Grace]

26 January 2010

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

Sgt. David J. Smith, 25, of Frederick, Md., died Jan. 26 from wounds received Jan. 23 while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

[Grace]

29 January 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 29 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations.

Killed were:

Capt. David J. Thompson, 39, of Hooker, Okla., who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Spc. Marc P. Decoteau, 19, of Waterville Valley, N.H., who was assigned to the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne), 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.