In Memoriam

[Grace]

2011 Foreign Fatalities

* Australia: 7

* Azerbaijan: 6

* Canada: 3

* Czech: 1

* Denmark: 3

* Estonia: 1

* Fiji: 1

* Finland: 1

* France: 23

* Georgia: 4

* Germany: 7

* Hungary: 2

* Italy: 8

* Jordan: 1

* Nepal: 4

* New Zealand: 3

* Norway: 1

* Poland: 8

* Romania: 3

* Spain: 4

* Sweden: 1

* UK: 36

* US: 367

[Grace]

Korea

POW/MIA Talks Begin with North Korean Officials

A delegation from the United States will meet in Bangkok on Oct. 18 to begin negotiations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on resuming recovery of the remains of American servicemen missing in action from the Korean War.

Robert J. Newberry, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/missing personnel affairs, will lead negotiations with a team including representatives from the Department of State, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the U.S. Pacific Command and the United Nations Command-Korea.

The talks will only address the issue of resuming remains recovery of missing U.S. servicemen from the Korean War. Accounting for Americans missing in action is a stand-alone humanitarian matter, not tied to any other issue between the two countries.

Of the approximately 83,000 Americans missing from all conflicts, more than 7,900 are from the Korean War with 5,500 of those believed to be missing in the DPRK.

[Grace]

7 September 2011 - better late than never

Cmdr. James Kevin Crawford

From: East Concord, New York
Age: 50
Unit: Assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, supporting operations at the Combined Maritime Forces Coalition Coordination Center in Bahrain

Died as a result of cardiac arrest after he collapsed while exercising at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, in Manama, Bahrain.

[Grace]

17 October 2011

From WTVR, Richmond, VA -

Soldier dies while serving in Iraq

The Virginia National Guard has confirmed that Staff Sgt. James R. Leep, Jr. died Oct. 17, 2011

9:25 PM EDT, October 18, 2011


A soldier from Virginia has died while serving in Iraq.

The Virginia National Guard has confirmed that Staff Sgt. James R. Leep, Jr. died Oct. 17, 2011, in Babil Province, Iraq as the result of non-combat related injuries.

Leep, who was 44 years old, was serving in Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment in Iraq at the time of his death.

He was assigned to the Gate City-based 1033rd Engineer Company as a combat engineer and construction equipment supervisor and was reassigned to Troop A as a truck commander for the unit's convoy security mission and was commander for a convoy escort team.

He is survived by his wife, two adult children and sister. He was from Davenport, Va.

The Soldier’s death is under investigation

[Grace]

14 October 2011

From the Arizona Republic -

18, 2011 07:12 PM
The Arizona Republic-12 News breaking News Team

The Pentagon on Tuesday announced the death of a Phoenix soldier fighting in Afghanistan.

Spc. Michael D. Elm, 25, was killed by an improvised explosive device Oct. 14 in Khost province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Fort Knox, Ky.

Elm's unit has been a part of Operation Steel Rain, which seeks to disrupt insurgent cells in the Tirzaye district of Khost.

A division press release described the cells, known as the Haqqani network, as a militant Islamic organization linked to the Taliban and al-Qaida. It is believed to be based along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Haqqani insurgents have been blamed for a recent series of attacks that have claimed the lives of Afghan officials and U.S. and Afghan troops.

[Grace]

19 October 2011

US Army Staff Sergeant Jorge Miguel Oliveira, was killed in action on 19th October 2011 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, when an insurgent bomb exploded beside his unit.

33-year-old SSgt. Oliveira, from Newark, New Jersey was serving with the New Jersey Army National Guard, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry Regiment, based at Riverdale. This was his third deployment with the New Jersey National Guard. He served in Iraq in 2008.

SSgt. Oliveira was a Law Enforcement Officer with the Essex County Sheriff's Office in New Jersey, where he had served for 11 years. He joined the National Guard in 2003 and served at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2004. The following year he served in response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

He leaves his mother and father, a brother and sister.

[Grace]

19 October 2011

US Navy Chief Petty Officer Raymond J. Border, died on 19th October 2011 during a mission to assess a route in Paktika province. He was serving with a provincial reconstruction team.

31-year-old CPO Border, from Ohio, was based in Gulfport, Mississippi with Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 74.

Article from local paper