In Memoriam

[Grace]

#11

6 August 2011

US Navy Chief Petty Officer Robert James Reeves was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

CPO Reeves died along with his friend and colleague Lt. Commander Jonas Kelsall. Both men were born in Shreveport.

[Grace]

10 August 2011

23-year-old US Marine Corporal Nicholas S. Ott, died on 10th August 2011 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Cpl Ott, from Manchester, NJ, served with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, based at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He joined the Marine Corps in September 2007. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.

His awards include two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

[Grace]

#12


6 August 2011

28-year-old US Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, from Angwin, California, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

From the Daily Sentinel, Colorado -

Before he became a U.S. Navy SEAL, Darrik Benson was known as a good student and an all-around nice kid in Angwin, a small town in California's Napa Valley where he grew up.

At the end of his latest tour of duty next month, he planned to marry his girlfriend, Kara, and spend time with his 2-year-old son, Landon.

"She's very broken up about this," Benson's mother, Claudia Benson, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Benson had recently earned his commercial pilot's license to possibly fly airplanes after his military service ended.

Linda Hansel, who taught Benson in eighth grade, remembered him as bright, outgoing and just a touch mischievous.

[Grace]

#13

6 August 2011

32-year-old US Navy Special Warfare Operator, Lieutenant-Commander Jonas B. Kelsall, from Shreveport, Louisiana, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan. He served with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

From Urban Christian News -

Lt.Cdr Kelsall and CPO Robert Reeves (#11) had been childhood friends in Shreveport, La., where they played soccer together and graduated from Caddo Magnet High School, Kelsall's father, John, told The Times of Shreveport and KLSA-TV.

Both joined the military after graduation, though Reeves spent a year at Louisiana State University first, his father, Jim Reeves, told the newspaper.

Reeves became a SEAL in 1999 and served on SEAL Team 6, his father said. During his many deployments, he earned four Bronze Stars and other honors.

Kelsall was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, his father said.

He trained in San Diego and met his wife of three years, Victoria, when he was attending the University of Texas out of Basic Underwater Demolition training, his father said.

Reeves placed several American flags outside his home and his neighbors joined in, many decorating their homes in red, white and blue in support of the families.

[Grace]

#14

6 August 2011

44-year-old US Navy Special Warfare Operator, Master Chief Petty Officer Louis J. Langlais, from Santa Barbara, California, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan. He served with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

Article from KCOY.

[Grace]

#15

6 August 2011

US Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Kraig M. Vickers, from Hawaii, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 36-year-old was an Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist and a Bomb-disposal technician serving with an East-coast based Navy SEAL unit.

From Fox News -

When he was a Maui High School football player, no one could match Kraig Vickers' intensity on the field.

But off the field? "You couldn't find a nicer guy," his former coach remembers.

"He played middle linebacker, so he was really smart, the quarterback of the defense; and when he put on his helmet, no one could match his intensity and aggressiveness," coach Curtis Lee told the Maui News.

Kraig Vickers had been a Navy Bomb Disposal Team member, his father, Robert Vickers, told the newspaper. He said his son would have turned 37 on Thursday before declining further comment on his death.

Kraig Vickers graduated high school in 1992.

He lived in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife, Nani, who was pregnant, and their three children, his friend from childhood, Michael Labuanan, told the newspaper.

"I gravitated towards Kraig because of his easygoing personality and the drive to become the best person that he could be," said Labuanan in an email.

U.S. Rep Mazie Hirono released a statement Sunday, extending her "gratitude to Kraig Vickers for his loyal service to our country."

[Grace]

#16

6 August 2011

US Air Force Tech. Sergeant John W. Brown, from Tallahassee, Florida, was killed in action on 6th August 2011 when the helicopter he was in was shot down by enemy forces in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

The 33-year-old served with the USAF 24th Special Tactics Squadron, based at Pope Field, North Carolina.

Article from FSU news