In Memoriam

[Grace]

Azerbaijan

An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane belonging to Silk Way Airlines of Azerbaijan crashed into a mountainside in Afghanistan's Parwan Province at approximately 21.10 GMT on 5th July. The plane was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Bagram military base, carrying cargo for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Body parts have been found with the wreckage of the plane although no formal identifications have been possible.

It is not thought that any of the crew could have survived the crash. The airline has released the names of the nine crew members on board the aircraft.

1. Captain Sergey Kuzmin (born in 1969)
2. Co-pilot Oleg Marshikhin (born in 1979, from Azerbaijan)
3. Navigator Igor Zheng (born in 1966)
4. Engineer Vladimir Shatobin (born in 1969)
5. Radio operator Ahmedjan Khajayev (born in 1955, from Azerbajian)
6. Radio operator Elnur Mahmudov (born in 1981, from Azerbaijan)
7. Onboard operator Tapdig Gahramanov (born in 1964, from Azerbaijan)
8. Mechanic Afghan Rahimov (born in 1980, from Azerbaijan)
9. Mechanic Mehman Huseynov (born in 1962, from Azerbaijan)

[Grace]

5 July 2011

US Army soldier Preston J. Suter, 22, Sandy, Utah, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Tuesday 5th July 2011. He was riding in a patrol vehicle when a roadside bomb detonated beside it.

Two other US soldiers died in the blast -
Sergeant Joshua Throckmorton and Spc. Jordan Schumann.

[Grace]

5 July 2011

24-year-old US Army Spc Jordan C. Schumann was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 5th July 2011 by the blast of a roadside bomb while he was in a Humvee patrol vehicle.

Spc. Schumann, son of a Port St Lucie, Florida family, graduated from St Lucie West Centennial in 2006 and is survived by his wife Sarah, their unborn baby due in September, his parents Clay and Linda, brother Clay Jr., and sister Heather.

[Grace]

5 July 2011

US Army Sergeant Joshua Throckmorton, age 28, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Tuesday 5th July 2011. Sgt. Throckmorton was a native of Battle Creek, Michigan and a father of three.

Sgt. Throckmorton was most recently stationed in Germany, but had previously spent fifteen months in Iraq and was three months in to a one year deployment in Afghanistan.

Article from his hometown paper.

[Grace]

5 July 2011

US Army Sergeant Nicanor Amper IV was killed in Khowst, Afghanistan when enemy forces attacked his unit with a rocket propelled grenade on 5th July 2011.

36-year-old Sgt. Nicanor, from San Jose, California, served with 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Sgt. Amper was married and had two sons from a previous marriage.

[Grace]

7 July 2011

29-year-old US Marine Staff Sgt. Thomas Joseph Dudley, from Tega Cay, South Carolina, died on 7th July 2011 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

SSgt. Dudley served with Marine Air Group 26, 2nd Marine Air Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Station New River, Jacksonville, North Carolina. This was his sixth overseas deployment. He had just two weeks left before returning home.

SSgt. Dudley leaves his wife, Mary, and their three children - Taylor, 13, Thomas Carter, 5 and Jenna Robyn, 23 months.

[Grace]

7 July 2011

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

They died July 7 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked their convoy using an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to 145th Brigade Support Battalion, 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Post Falls, Idaho.

Killed were:

Spc. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, of Littleton, Colo. and

Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Beyers -


Newby -