In Memoriam

**Grace** · 08-09-2010, 10:44 PM

8 August 2010

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

Pfc. Paul O. Cuzzupe, 23, of Plant City, Fla., died Aug. 8 in Akhtar-Mohammad-Khan, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.

**Grace** · 08-11-2010, 02:08 PM

Vietnam

Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War Identified

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

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Paul G. Magers of Sidney, Neb., will be buried on Aug. 27 in Laurel, Mont., and Army Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Wann of Shawnee, Okla., will be buried on Aug. 21 in Fort Gibson, Okla.

On June 1, 1971, both men were flying aboard an AH-1 Cobra gunship in support of an emergency extraction of an Army ranger team in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. After the rangers were extracted, helicopters were ordered to destroy claymore mines which had been left behind in the landing zone. During this mission their helicopter was hit by ground fire, crashed and exploded. Pilots who witnessed the explosions concluded that no one could have survived the crash and explosions. Enemy activity in the area precluded a ground search.

In 1990, analysts from DPMO, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and their predecessor organizations interviewed both American and Vietnamese witnesses and produced leads for field investigations. In 1993 and 1998, two U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by JPAC, surveyed the suspected crash site and found artifacts and debris consistent with a Cobra gunship. In mid-1999, another joint team excavated the site, but it stopped for safety reasons when the weather deteriorated. No remains were recovered, but the team did find wreckage associated with the specific crash they were investigating.

The Vietnamese government subsequently declared the region within Quang Tri Province where the aircraft crashed as off-limits to U.S. personnel, citing national security concerns. As part of an agreement with JPAC, a Vietnamese team unilaterally excavated the site and recovered human remains and other artifacts in 2008. The Vietnamese returned to the site in 2009, expanded the excavation area and discovered more remains and additional evidence.

Forensic analysis, circumstantial evidence and the mitochondrial DNA match to the Magers and Wann families by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory confirmed the identification of the remains.

**Grace** · 08-11-2010, 02:11 PM

For anyone interested, there is a website where you can get information about prisoner of war and missing in action troops.

It's The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)

**cassiesmom** · 08-11-2010, 08:21 PM

this is about a firefighter who fell down a ladder while trying to put out a grease fire at a restaurant - he was carrying about 75 lb of equipment at the time. Sad.

Christopher D. Wheatley, C.F.D., 31, died August 9, 2010 in line of duty. Beloved son of Dan and Mary, nee Delaney; dearest brother of Kimberley (Chris) Skubic; cherished fiancée of Jessica Roberts; also survived by many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Chris loved all of his brothers and sisters at the Chicago Fire Department, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Bears. Funeral Friday 9:15 a.m. from Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 4727 W. 103rd Street, Oak Lawn to St. John Fisher Church, 103rd & Fairfield, Chicago, Mass 10:30 a.m. Entombment Mausoleum of the Archangels, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, IL. Visitation Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Burn Camp-Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, P.O. Box 911, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 will be appreciated.

**Grace** · 08-11-2010, 10:10 PM

7 August 2010

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

Pfc. John E. Andrade, 19, of San Antonio, Texas, died Aug. 7 at DE Khak Chupan Turah, Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.