In Memoriam

[Grace]

26 June 2010

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

Pfc. Bryant J. Haynes, 21, of Epps, La., died June 26 in Al Diwaniyah, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over. He was assigned to the 199th Support Battalion, Louisiana Army National Guard, Alexandria, La.

[Grace]

26 June 2010

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

Spc. David A. Holmes, 34, of Tennille, Ga., died June 26 at Sayed Abad, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 810th Engineer Company, Swainsboro, Ga.

[Grace]

It was one year ago tonight when I started this topic. 75 pages, 744 posts later, we are no closer to the end of war.

Why do we think we can accomplish what many have tried before? Alexander the Great, the British and Russians - they could not win in Afghanistan.

So we keep sending our young men and women (and some not so young) to that God-forsaken country. For what - to come home in a flag-draped box?

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

[Killearn Kitties]

Why do we think we can accomplish what many have tried before? Alexander the Great, the British and Russians - they could not win in Afghanistan.

I'm with you, Grace. I don't know why we are there again either.

[Grace]

21 June 2010

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

Staff Sgt. Brandon M. Silk, 25, of Orono, Maine, died June 21 of injuries sustained when the helicopter in which he was travelling made a hard landing. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

[Grace]

30 June 2010

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

Spc. Matthew R. Hennigan, 20, of Las Vegas, Nev., died June 30 at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered earlier in Tangi Valley, Afghanistan when enemy forces attacked his unit with machine gun fire. He was assigned to 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany.

[Grace]

1 July 2010

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

Cpl. Larry D. Harris Jr., 24, of Thornton, Colo., died July 1 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

[Daisy and Delilah]

It was one year ago tonight when I started this topic. 75 pages, 744 posts later, we are no closer to the end of war.

Why do we think we can accomplish what many have tried before? Alexander the Great, the British and Russians - they could not win in Afghanistan.

So we keep sending our young men and women (and some not so young) to that God-forsaken country. For what - to come home in a flag-draped box?

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

I am in total agreement, Gretchen.

[Grace]

This just blows my mind - after all this time . . . . .

WWII

Seven Missing WWII Airmen Identified

The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of seven servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Army Capt. Joseph M. Olbinski, Chicago; 1st Lt. Joseph J. Auld, Floral Park, N.Y.; 1st Lt. Robert M. Anderson, Millen, Ga.; Tech. Sgt. Clarence E. Frantz, Tyrone, Penn.; Pfc. Richard M. Dawson, Haynesville, Va.; Pvt. Robert L. Crane, Sacramento, Calif.; and Pvt. Fred G. Fagan, Piedmont, Ala., were identified and all are to be interred July 15 in Arlington National Cemetery.

On May 23, 1944, the men were aboard a C-47A Skytrain that departed Dinjan, India, on an airdrop mission to resupply Allied forces near Myitkyina, Burma. When the crew failed to return, air and ground searches found no evidence of the aircraft along the intended flight path.

In late 2002, a missionary provided U.S. officials a data plate from a C-47 crash site approximately 31 miles northwest of Myitkyina. In 2003, a Burmese citizen turned over human remains and identification tags for three of the crew members.

A Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team excavated the crash site in 2003 and 2004, recovering additional remains and crew-related equipment—including an identification tag for Dawson.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of some of the crewmembers’ families – as well as dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.

[Grace]

England

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that a Royal Marine was killed in southern Afghanistan yesterday, Thursday 1 July 2010. Next of kin have been informed.

At the request of the next of kin, no further information will be released at this time.

[Grace]

30 June 2010

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

Sgt. 1st Class Kristopher D. Chapleau, 33, of LaGrange, Ky., died June 30 at Forward Operating Base Blessing, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

[cassiesmom]

Sailor Missing From Korean War 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 are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

U.S. Navy Ensign Robert W. Langwell, of Columbus, Ind., will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on July 12. On Oct. 1, 1950, Langwell was serving on the minesweeper USS Magpie when it sank after striking an enemy mine off the coast of Chuksan-ri, South Korea. Twelve crewmen were rescued, but Langwell was one of 20 men lost at sea.

In June 2008, personnel from the Republic of South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and Identification (MAKRI) canvassed towns in South Korea in an effort to gather information regarding South Korean soldiers unaccounted-for from the Korean War. An elderly fisherman, interviewed in the village of Chuksan-ri, reported that he and other villagers had buried an American serviceman in 1950 when his body was caught in the man’s fishing net.

The MAKRI located the burial site on April 28, 2009, where they excavated human remains and military artifacts. The burial site was approximately three miles west of where the USS Magpie sank in 1950. The team turned the remains and artifacts over to U.S. Forces Korea, which sent them to Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for analysis.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, JPAC scientists used dental comparisons in the identification of Langwell’s remains.

With Langwell’s accounting, 8,025 service members still remain missing from the Korean War.

Wow, over eight thousand people. That is very sad. How kind of the elderly man to share where this soldier was buried for so many years.

My dad was in the infantry in Korea. We watched the Memorial Day concert with Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna on PBS and he was very teary through most of it. The only person he has talked at length with about what happened there (besides my mom) is my nephew. Whatever happened there made a big impression on him.

P.S., Grace, re: post #744, I agree with you one thousand percent.

[Grace]

27 June 2010

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

They died June 27 in Konar, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with small arms fire. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Eric B. Shaw, 31, of Exeter, Maine; and

Spc. David W. Thomas, 40, of St. Petersburg, Fla.

[Bonny]

It is not US that should be ashamed but the stupid idiots that promised to end this war our so called President & Congress! We are the ones that are sending our family members over there. It must be the RICH MANS GREED in this country the USA for oil, minerals, & whatever Afghanistan has of value to be taken using our family members to get it. Thank you Grace for posting the casualties it is a big eye opener & sad so sad.

[Grace]

It is not US that should be ashamed but the stupid idiots that promised to end this war our so called President & Congress! We are the ones that are sending our family members over there. It must be the RICH MANS GREED in this country the USA for oil, minerals, & whatever Afghanistan has of value to be taken using our family members to get it. Thank you Grace for posting the casualties it is a big eye opener & sad so sad.

Bonny - I did mean we as in the USA - the entire country, including those in Washington, not just the general population.

But we, the general population, do share blame. Where did all the war protesters go? They were all over the place during Vietnam - even drove President Johnson out of office.

Are we so complacent about life right now? Because there is no draft, we don't necessarily have to worry that our son, daughter, grandson, etc might have to go to war.

I'm so angry with those in power. We elected those who said they would end the war - yeah, right