18 April 2010

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

Staff Sgt. James R. Patton, 23, of Fort Benning, Ga.. Died of injuries sustained when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in which he was riding crashed during a joint Iraqi-U.S. raid in Tikrit, Iraq, that killed the two most senior leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga