In Memoriam

[Grace]

24 September 2010

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

Pfc. Clinton E. Springer II, 21, of Sanford, Maine, died Sept. 24 in Kabul, Afghanistan, in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y

[Grace]

24 September 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation New Dawn.

They died Sept. 24 in Fallujah, Iraq, of injuries sustained Sept. 23 in a non-combat incident. They were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Killed were:

Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, Calif.

Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Conn.

[Grace]

World War II

Missing WWII Naval Aviators Identified

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

Navy Lt. Francis B. McIntyre of Mitchell, S.D., will be buried on Sept. 29, and Aviation Radioman Second Class William L. Russell of Cherokee, Okla., will be buried on Oct. 1. Both men will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

On Nov. 10, 1943, the two men took off on a bombing and strafing mission in their SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber from Munda Field, New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands. Witnesses last saw the aircraft flying at low altitude through a large explosion on an enemy airfield on Buka Island, Papua New Guinea. None reported seeing the crash of the aircraft itself.

The American Graves Registration Service searched numerous South Pacific Islands in 1949 in an effort to gather data about aircraft crashes or missing Americans. The team was unable to find any useful information, and failed to recover any American remains in the area. A board of review declared both men unrecoverable.

In 2007, a Papuan national found a World War II crash site near the Buka airport, which was reported to U.S. officials. In May 2008, specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), working with the country’s national museum, investigated the crash site but were unable to excavate it because of inclement weather. Local officials turned over human remains, McIntyre’s identification tag and other military-related items which had been recovered earlier. After examining the remains in 2008 and 2009, JPAC determined that no excavation would be required since the two sets of remains were nearly complete.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons for both men and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA which matched a sample from Russell’s relatives and DNA extracted from a hat belonging to McIntyre.

At the end of World War II, the U.S. government was unable to recover, identify and bury approximately 79,000 individuals. Today, more than 72,000 Americans remain unaccounted-for from the conflict.

[Grace]

24 September 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation New Dawn.

Spc. Marc C. Whisenant, 23, of Holly Hill, Fla., died Sept. 24 in Kuwait of injuries sustained in a military vehicle roll-over. He was attached to the Florida National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, Miami, Fla.

[Grace]

24 Sepyember 2010

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

They died Sept. 24 of wounds suffered while traveling between Ghanzi and Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, when their military vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, U.S. Army, Alaska, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Killed were:

Pfc. William B. Dawson, 20, of Tunica, Miss.

Pfc. Jaysine P. S. Petree, 19, of Yigo, Guam.

[Grace]

26 September 2010

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

They died Sept. 26 at Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their military vehicle with an improvised explosive device on Sept. 25 at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, Afghanistan. They were assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Sgt. Mark A. Simpson, 40, of Peoria, Ill.

Spc. Donald S. Morrison, 23, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

[Grace]

28 September 2010

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

Lance Cpl. Ralph J. Fabbri, 20, of Gallitzin, Pa., died Sept. 28 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the HeadquartersBattalion, 1st Marine Division, IMarine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.