In Memoriam

[Grace]

13 June 2011

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

They died June 13 in Wasit province, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Nicholas P. Bellard, 26, of El Paso, Texas; and

Sgt. Glenn M. Sewell, 23, of Live Oak, Texas.

[Grace]

14 June 2011

26-year-old US Army Staff Sergeant Jeremy A. Katzenberger from Weatherby Lake, Missouri was killed in action in Paktika province, Afghanistan on 14th June 2011 in a battle with enemy forces who attacked his unit.

SSgt. Katzenberger served with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. He had previously served four tours in Iraq and three tours in Afghanistan. He joined the army in 2004.

SSgt. Katzenberger leaves his wife Colleen and baby son Everett James, and his parents Robert and Peggy. He would have celebrated his first Father's Day on Sunday.

[Grace]

14 June 2011

20-year-old US Army Private First Class Eric D. Soufrine, from Woodbridge, Conn., died on 14th June 2011 from wounds suffered when a bomb exploded near his unit. The incident happened in Farah province, Afghanistan.

Pfc. Soufrine served with the 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Pfc. Soufrine joined the army in May 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan in December. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and NATO Service Medal.

He leaves his parents, Michael and Donna, an older brother Joshua and older sister Rebecca.

[Grace]

15 June 2011

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

Pvt. Ryan J. Larson, 19, of Friendship, Wis., died June 15 at Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

[Grace]

The Army announced today the promotion of a soldier listed as Missing-Captured while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom to the rank of sergeant effective June 12, 2011.

Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 25, is assigned to 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

This is Bergdahl’s second promotion since he was listed as Missing-Captured on June 30, 2009. He was promoted to the rank of specialist on June 12, 2010.

[Grace]

16 June 2011

US Marine Sergeant Mark Andrew Bradley, age 25, died on Thursday 16th June 2011 from injuries he received in Afghanistan from a bomb blast on 3rd June.

Sgt. Bradley served with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune. He was on his first deployment to Afghanistan and had previously completed four overseas tours of duty.

He had been medically evacuated from Afghanistan to Germany and then to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

His wife, Samantha, said that doctors had amputated both of Sgt. Bradley's legs above the knee. His lungs had collapsed, his kidney and liver failed, and he suffered brain trauma. Doctors also had operated on his heart.

Sgt. Bradley joined the Marines eight years ago after he finished high school in Cuba, New York.

[Grace]

Vietnam

Airman Missing from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force 1st Lt. David A. Thorpe of Seneca Falls, N.Y., will be buried June 23 at Arlington National Cemetery. On Oct. 3, 1966, Thorpe’s C-130E, with four other men aboard, failed to arrive at Nha Trang Air Base following their departure from Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam. Rescue personnel found their remains at the crash site in South Vietnam eight days later approximately 40 miles west of Nha Trang. The cause of the crash is not known.

Between 1984 and 1996, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) received human remains tentatively linked to Thorpe and the other crew members from various sources including refugees from the Vietnam War and Vietnamese citizens. Lacking advanced scientific tools and complete records during this time period, JPAC was unable to make an individual identification of Thorpe’s remains, so he was buried as part of a group at Arlington. Other remains associated with the entire group were held at JPAC’s laboratory for future testing.

As DNA testing procedures improved in the late 1990s, JPAC’s forensic anthropologists applied the latest technologies from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory to include mitochondrial testing, a sample of which matched the DNA from Thorpe’s sister. His dental records also helped confirm the identification.

With the accounting of this airman, 1,687 service members still remain missing from the Vietnam War.