In Memoriam

[Grace]

In post #658, one of the men listed was
1st Lt. Joel C. Gentz, 25, of Grass Lake, Mich.

Here is an article from our local paper about him.

[Grace]

Today is June 13th.

27 American troops have died since June 1st.

Operation Enduring Freedom has become Operation Never Ending Death.

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11 June 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died June 11 at Forward Operating Base Bullard, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, Connellsville, Pa.

Killed were:

Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Fike, 38, of Conneautville, Pa.

Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Hoover, 29, of West Elizabeth, Pa.

[Grace]

11 June 2010

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

They died June 11 in Jalula, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Killed were:

Sgt. Israel P. Obryan, 24, of Newbern, Tenn., and

Spc. William C. Yauch, 23, of Batesville, Ark.

[Grace]

11 June 2010

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

Spc. Christian M. Adams, 26, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., died June 11 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

[Grace]

April 6, 1972

Air Force MIAS from Vietnam War are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) 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.

They are Capt. Peter H. Chapman, II, Centerburg, Ohio;
Tech. Sgt. Allen J. Avery, Auburn, Mass.;
Tech. Sgt. Roy D. Prater, Tiffin, Ohio;
and Sgt. James H. Alley, Plantation, Fla., all U.S. Air Force.

Prater is to be buried in Columbia City, Ind., on June 19. Other burials are being scheduled individually by the families of the airmen.

On April 6, 1972, six airmen were flying a combat search and rescue mission in their HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant helicopter over Quang Tri Province in South Vietnam when they were hit by enemy ground fire and crashed. Joint U.S. – Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) field investigations from 1989 to 1992, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), yielded evidence leading to an excavation at the crash site in 1994 as well as two reported burial sites. Team members recovered human remains and personal effects as well as aircraft debris. As a result of these recoveries, all six men on the aircraft were accounted-for in 1997 and buried as a group at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Three were individually identified at that time. Recent technical advances enabled JPAC to identify additional remains to be those of Prater.

Previously, in 1988, the S.R.V. turned over remains they attributed to an American serviceman, however, the name did not match anyone lost or missing from the Vietnam War. The remains were held by JPAC pending improved technology which might have facilitated an identification later.

In the mid-2000s, JPAC’s laboratory gained increased scientific capability to associate the 1988 remains to the correct loss. The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) tested these remains against all those servicemembers who were MIA from the Vietnam War with negative results. In 2009, AFDIL expanded its search to make comparisons with previously- resolved individuals. As a result of AFDIL’s mitochondrial DNA testing, JPAC scientists determined that these remains were associated with four of the six airmen from the 1972 crash.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.

[Grace]

England

Lance Cpl. Andrew Breeze

From: Manchester, England
Age: 31
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment
Died: June 12, 2010

Killed when a roadside bomb detonated during an operation to clear an area near Check Point Kingshill in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, Afghanistan.