In Memoriam

[Grace]

Australia

Sapper Rowan Jaie Robinson

From: Wahroonga, New South Wales
Age: 23
Unit: Combat engineer, Incident Response Regiment, attached to the Australian Special Operations Task Group
Died: June 6, 2011

Robinson was part of an Australian Special Operations Task Group patrol that had uncovered a large cache of explosives and was moving to another area of interest when the patrol came under fire from Taliban insurgents in northern Helmand province, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

5 June 2011

Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth R. White

From: Fort Collins, Colorado
Age: 35
Unit: 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division


Chief Warrant Officer Bradley J. Gaudet

From: Gladewater, Texas
Age: 31
Unit: 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division


Two soldiers killed when their OH-58D Kiowa helicopter crashed in the Sabari district of Khost province, Afghanistan.

[Grace]

7 June 2011

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

Cpl. William J. Woitowicz, 23, of Middlesex, Mass., died June 7 while conducting combat operations in Badghis province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

[Grace]

In Iraq - at 0530, while they were sleeping - 6 June 2011

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

They died June 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with indirect fire. They were assigned to the1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Killed were:

Spc. Emilio J. Campo Jr., 20, of Madelia, Minn.;

Spc. Michael B. Cook Jr., 27, of Middletown, Ohio;

Spc. Christopher B. Fishbeck, 24, of Victorville, Calif.;

Spc. Robert P. Hartwick, 20, of Rockbridge, Ohio; and

Pfc. Michael C. Olivieri, 26, Chicago, Ill.

[Grace]

9 June 2011

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

Cpl. Matthew T. Richard, 21, of Acadia, La., died June 9 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

[Grace]

8 June 2011

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

Pfc. Matthew J. England, 22, of Gainesville, Mo., died June 8, in An Najaf province, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

[wombat2u2004]

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including
those added in 2010.
The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized.
It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall,
appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then
resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth
(numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956.
His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old

3,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.


997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.


31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia .
I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There
are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football
and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop.
5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In
quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in
the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of
Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a
group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966.
Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They
played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam.
In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was
killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's
assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom
was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245
deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
That's 2,415 dead in a single month.

[cassiesmom]

In Iraq - at 0530, while they were sleeping - 6 June 2011

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

They died June 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with indirect fire. They were assigned to the1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Killed were:

Spc. Emilio J. Campo Jr., 20, of Madelia, Minn.;

Spc. Michael B. Cook Jr., 27, of Middletown, Ohio;

Spc. Christopher B. Fishbeck, 24, of Victorville, Calif.;

Spc. Robert P. Hartwick, 20, of Rockbridge, Ohio; and

Pfc. Michael C. Olivieri, 26, Chicago, Ill.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Help honor fallen Homer Glen soldier
Flags for Pfc. Olivieri

HOMER GLEN — Residents can help honor Pfc. Michael Olivieri and his family by lining the streets of Bell Road between 143rd and 159th, and 159th Street, between Bell and Gougar, during his funeral procession Thursday to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Flags can be picked up at the village offices, on the west side of the building, 14933 S. Founders Crossing (Bell Road and 149th), until 4:30 p.m. daily and at the Homer Township Library, 14320 151st St., from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Flags also can be picked up at Dominick’s on Bell Road; Animal Care Clinic, 13061 W. 143rd St.; Sears, Bell Road and 159th; and Blueberry Hill Restaurant.

The funeral procession will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday from Modell Funeral Home, 12641 W. 143rd St.

[Grace]

England

British Army WO2 Grant Armstrong of the Light Dragoons died on 4th June 2011 from cancer after being diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.

WO2 Armstrong had served two tours of duty in Afghanistan as well as a tour in Iraq and four tours in Bosnia. After surviving Taliban bullets and bombs, he prepared for a battle with cancer.

WO2 Armstrong was buried on 14th June 2011 with full military honours at Swanton Morley Cemetery in Norfolk, England.

His funeral was held on what would have been his eighth wedding anniversary. His wife Donna, released a white dove as a symbol of hope and freedom.

Soil from the soldier's birthplace in Northumberland was specially brought in to cover his grave.

Note: we have included WO2 Armstrong on this website as a tribute to a soldier who served in Afghanistan. May he rest in peace.

[phesina]

Yes, indeed, he fully deserves to be memorialized here. Thank you, sir, and rest in peace.