In Memoriam

[Grace]

3 December 2011

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

Sgt. Ryan D. Sharp, 28, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, died Dec. 3, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered Nov. 21 at Kandahar province, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

[Grace]

3 December 2011

21-year-old US Army infantryman, Specialist Ryan M. Lumley from Florida, was one of three American soldiers killed in action when their patrol was hit by the blast of an insurgent bomb on 3rd December 2011. The incident happened in Wardak province.

Spc. Lumley served with the Texas-based 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He joined the Army in March 2009.

The other soldiers killed were: Sgt. 1st Class Clark Corley Jr, and Spc. Thomas Mayberry.

[Grace]

3 December 2011

21-year-old US Army infantryman, Specialist Thomas J. Mayberry from California, was one of three American soldiers killed in action when their patrol was hit by the blast of an insurgent bomb on 3rd December 2011. The incident happened in Wardak province.

Spc. Mayberry served with the Texas-based 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He joined the Army in January 2009 and had been based in South Korea before transferring to Fort Bliss, Texas.

The other soldiers killed were: Sgt. 1st Class Clark Corley Jr, and Spc. Ryan Lumley

[Grace]

3 December 2011

35-year-old US Army Sergeant 1st Class Clark A. Corley Jr., from California, was one of three American soldiers killed in action when their patrol was hit by the blast of an insurgent bomb on 3rd December 2011. The incident happened in Wardak province.

Sergeant Corley served with the Texas-based 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He joined the Army in December 1995 and had been previously stationed at Fort Benning, Fort Irwin, Fort Lee, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and South Korea.

Sgt. Corley's decorations include the Army Commendation Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal-Fourth Award, National Defense Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal with a Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Infantryman Badge.

He leaves behind his wife and one child.

The other soldiers killed were: Spc Thomas Mayberry, and Spc Ryan Lumley

[Grace]

4 December 2011

US Army Specialist Christopher Luis Mendonca died in a vehicle accident near Binghampton, New York, on Sunday 4th December 2011 while he was home on leave from Afghanistan.

20-year-old Spc. Mendonca, a native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment based at Fort Carson, Colorado. He had graduated from Holbrook High School, in Massachusetts and had wanted to be a State Trooper after he completed his Army service.

Spc. Mendonca leaves behind his parents Domingas and Luis Mendonca, his wife Kasey, brother Joseph, maternal grandmother, Ana Gomes and his paternal grandmother, Justina Mendonca.

[Grace]

England

It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Sapper Elijah Bond of 35 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers at the Queen Elizabeth NHS Hospital, Birmingham.

Ministry of Defence statement

[Grace]

New Zealand

One year later . . . . .

The family of Private John "Jack" Howard, from Wellington, New Zealand, had his ashes interred in Karori cemetery in Wellington on Friday 9th December 2011.

Private Howard was killed while on patrol in Nad-e Ali District, Helmand province on 5th December 2010. He was serving with the British Army's 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (3PARA) at the time.

Private Howard's body was flown back to England where his family was waiting, before being flown to Wellington for his funeral last year. His ashes were marked with a white marble headstone bearing the Parachute Regiment seal, the New Zealand Sunday Star Times reported.

New Zealand's Channel 3 News reported that notebooks kept by Private Howard were returned to his family after his death, and revealed a number of close calls on the battlefield. A week before his death, he was shot through his backpack. The bullet narrowly missed him.

Private Howard's death in Afghanistan is believed to have been caused by 'friendly-fire' during a U.S. airstrike by a jet on a ‘strafing run'.

His funeral last year, at Wellington's Cathedral of St Paul, included an honour guard of traditional Maori warriors while comrades from his regiment carried his Union Jack draped coffin.