In Memoriam

[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

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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.

[Grace]

10 DECEMBER 2011

US Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Jacob Levy, from Ramseur, North Carolina, died on 10th December 2011 in a US military hospital in Germany. He was shot by a sniper while on patrol in Helmand province on Wednesday 7th December and had been evacuated to Germany.

21-year-old LCpl Levy, serving with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had volunteered for this deployment, his second tour in Afghanistan.

LCpl Levy's stepfather, Kevin Sheek, told local news reporters: "Jacob died doing a job he was willing to die for. He was an awesome man and an awesome Marine." He went on to say that LCpl Levy was an organ donor and, "there will be triumph through the tragedy. Other people will live because Jacob laid his life down."

LCpl Levy leaves behind his mother Amanda Sheek, father Christopher Alan Levy, stepfather Kevin Sheek and three brothers, Payne Sheek (14), Elijah Sheek (9) and Thunder Levy (11).

[Grace]

13 December 2011

20-year-old US Army Private Jalfred D. Vaquerano, died on 13th December 2011 in a military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, from injuries received in Logar province when enemy forces opened fire on his unit.

Pvt. Vaquerano, from Apopka, Florida, served with the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, based at Fort Bliss, Texas.

[Grace]

14 December 2011

US Marines Major Sam Griffith was killed in action in Afghanistan by enemy fire while on a routine patrol. 36-year-old Major Griffith served with the 4th Anglico, an air naval gunfire company based in West Palm Beach. The Marine Reservist was on his third deployment to Afghanistan.

Military officials confirmed his death on Wednesday but did not say how he died. Lt. Col. Aaron Marx, inspector instructor at 4th Anglico, taking to CBS12 News, said this about Major Griffith: "He was extremely proficient at his job, one of the best I've ever known," Marx said, adding that he was a "deeply committed family man."

Major Griffith leaves behind his wife Casey and two young sons. He lived in Virginia Beach with his family.

[Grace]

11 December 2011

US Army 25th Infantry Specialist Ronald H. Wildrick Jr. was killed in action in Kunar province on 11th December 2011 when an insurgent bomb exploded while he was on patrol with his unit.

30-year-old Spc. Wildrick, from Blairstown, New Jersey, served with the Hawaii-based 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He joined the Army in June 2008 as an Infantryman. This was his first overseas deployment. He was married with two daughters.

Spc. Wildrick’s awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Basic Parachutist Badge. Posthumous awards include Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, NATO Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Also killed in the same incident was Sgt. Christopher L. Muniz, also of the 25th Infantry.