In Memoriam

[Grace]

29 June 2011

The Department of Defense is reporting that 29 year old Specialist Robert Tenney, Jr. of Warner Robins, Georgia was killed in Iraq while supporting Operation New Dawn.

According to a Department of Defense news release, Tenney died June 29th in Badrah, Iraq when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.

He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Regiment in Fort Hood, Texas.

Tenney's awards and decorations include an Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal with combat service star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

[Grace]

Italy

29-year-old Italian Army Caporal Maggiore Gaetano Tuccillo was killed in Afghanistan on 2nd July 2011 when a roadside bomb detonated as his mounted unit returned from a reconnaissance patrol.

The incident happened near the village of Caghaz, 16 kilometers west of Bakwa in eastern Farah. An Italian paratrooper was injured by the explosion.

Caporal Tuccillo served with the Logistics Battalion of the Maniago Aries Brigade. He was born near Naples and married to a Dutch woman.

[Grace]

1 July 2011

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

Pfc. James A. Waters, 21, of Cloverdale, Ind., died July 1 at Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

[Grace]

4 July 2011

27-year-old US Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Garcia, died on 4th July 2011 from injuries he received from a bomb blast in Logar province, Afghanistan.

SSgt. Garcia served with the 63rd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 20th Support Command (CBRNE), based at Fort Polk.

[Grace]

Scotland

It is with regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Highlander Scott McLaren from D Company, D Company, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was killed in Afghanistan on Monday 4 July 2011.

Ministry of Defence statement.

[Grace]

Australia

Sergeant Todd Matthew Langley, age 35, from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando regiment, was killed in action during a battle with enemy forces in southern Afghanistan on 4th July 2011. He died on the battlefield from gun shot wounds to the head.

Sgt. Langley was on his fifth deployment to Afghanistan and had previously deployed twice to East Timor. He had been awarded two Commendations for Distinguished Service in 2002 and again in 2008. In 2006 he was awarded a Unit Citation for Gallantry

Sgt. Langley was born in Western Australia in 1976. He joined the Army in 1993 and served with 1 RAR. In 2004, he completed the Commando selection course and was posted to the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), now 2nd Commando Regiment.

[Grace]

Vietnam

Air Force Pilot 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 returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Air Force Maj. Richard G. Elzinga of Shedd, Ore., will be buried on July 8 in Arlington National Cemetery. On March 26, 1970, Elzinga and his co-pilot went missing when their O-1G Birddog aircraft failed to return to base from a familiarization flight over Laos. Fifteen minutes after the last radio contact, a communication and visual search showed no sign of the men or their aircraft. Search and rescue missions continued for two days with no results.

Between 1994 and 2009, joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, analyzed leads, interviewed villagers and surveyed possible crash site locations. During several joint field surveys, teams recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, and crew-related equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of his aunt and cousin -- in the identification of Elzinga’s remains.