In Memoriam

[Grace]

2 April 2010

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

Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson, 20, of Rochester, Minn., died April 2 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

[Grace]

U.S. Soldier MIA from Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

U.S. Army Cpl. Stanley P. Arendt was buried on March 29 in Palatine, Ill. In early November 1950, Arendt was assigned to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division occupying a defensive position near the town of Unsan in the bend of the Kuryong River known as the “Camel’s Head.” Arendt’s unit was involved in heavy fighting which devolved into hand-to-hand combat around their command post. Almost 400 men of the 8th Cavalry Regiment were reported missing in action or killed in action from the battle at Unsan.

In late November 1950, a U.S. soldier captured during the battle of Unsan reported during his debriefing that he and nine other American soldiers were moved to a house near the battlefield. The POWs were taken to an adjacent field and shot. Three of the 10 Americans survived, though one later died. He provided detailed information on the location of the incident and the identities of the other soldiers. Following the armistice in 1953 and the release of POWs, the other surviving soldier confirmed the details provided in 1950.

In May 2004, a joint U.S.-North Korean team excavated a mass grave near the “Camel’s Head” after receiving a report that an elderly North Korean national had witnessed the death of seven or eight U.S. soldiers near that location and provided the team with a general description of the burial site.

The excavation team recovered human remains and other personal artifacts, ultimately leading to the identification of seven soldiers from that site. Among the forensic techniques used in the identifications by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command was that of mitochondrial DNA, five samples of which matched the DNA of Arendt’s brother.

[Grace]

4 April 2010

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

Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize, 35, of Hancock, Minn., died April 4 in Baghdad, Iraq of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 367th Engineer Battalion, St. Cloud, Minn.

[Grace]

U.S. Soldiers MIA from Vietnam War Identified

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

A group burial for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth L. Stancil, Chattanooga, Tenn.;
Chief Warrant Officer Jesse D. Phelps, Boise, Idaho;
Spc. Thomas Rice, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.;
Spc. Donald C. Grella, Laurel, Neb.,
as well as Rice’s individual remains burial will be tomorrow at Arlington National Cemetery. Stancil, Phelps and Grella were buried individually last year.

The four men were aboard a UH-1D Huey helicopter which failed to return from a mission over Gia Lai Province, South Vietnam to pick up special forces soldiers on Dec. 28, 1965. The exact location of the crash site was not determined during the war, and search and rescue operations were suspended after failing to locate the men after four days.

From 1993-2005, joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command attempted unsuccessfully to locate the site. But in April 2006, a joint team interviewed two local villagers, one of whom said he had shot down a U.S. helicopter in 1965. The villagers escorted the team to the crash site where wreckage was found. In March 2009, another joint team excavated the area and recovered human remains and other artifacts including an identification tag from Grella.

JPAC’s scientists employed traditional forensic techniques in making these identifications, including comparisons of dental records with the remains found at the site.

[Grace]

Great Britain

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Fusilier Jonathan Antony Burgess, 20, Swansea, South Wales, who died in Afghanistan on 7 April 2010.

Fusilier Burgess, of 3 Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, died as a result of gunshot wounds following a small arms engagement in the Nad 'Ali area of Helmand province.

[RICHARD]

http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_1....dailynews.com


The teachers should have the kids read the citation accompanying the Medal of Honor awarded Maxam. See that his actions were verified by his fellow Marines in Company D of the Third Marine Division. Half a dozen of them will be attending the park renaming ceremony.

Summarized, this is what Maxam did. Already wounded by grenade fragments, he ran to an abandoned machine gun and began firing on the advancing enemy.

"Corporal Maxam's position received a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade, knocking him backwards and inflicting severe wounds to his face and right eye," the citation reads.

Maxam got up and kept firing. He was hit again with small arms fire. He got back up and kept firing.

"He gallantly continued to deliver intense machine gun fire, causing the enemy to retreat to cover. In a desperate attempt to silence his weapon, the North Vietnamese threw hand grenades and rifle fire against him, inflicting two additional wounds.

"Too weak to reload his machine gun, Corporal Maxam fell to a prone position and continued to deliver effective fire with his rifle.

"After one and a half hours, during which he was hit repeatedly, he succumbed to his wounds, having successfully defended nearly one half of the perimeter single-handedly."

That is how you win the Medal of Honor.

[Grace]

9 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died April 9 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a crash of a CV-22 Osprey. They were assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Killed were:

Maj. Randell D. Voas, 43, of Lakeville, Minn.

Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey, 45, of Green Clove Springs, Fla.