27 December 2011

Three US soldiers serving with 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, based at Fort Hood, Texas, were killed in action on 27th December 2011 when a bomb exploded beside their patrol unit in Paktia.

The three were identified as:

Sergeant Noah M. Korte
Specialist Kurt W. Kern
Private 1st Class Justin M. Whitmire


US Army Private 1st Class Justin M. Whitmire, from South Carolina, was killed on 27th December 2011 when a bomb detonated while he was on combat operations in Paktia.

20-year-old Pfc. Whitmire was one of three soldiers serving with the Texas-based 89th Military Police Brigade killed in the incident.

He had been in Afghanistan for just 19 days, his family told local news reporters. His father, Donnie Whitmire, said: "Justin was a 20 year old who loved to fish and had big plans for when he returned to Simpsonville. He said when I get back I have money to buy a brand new boat and go fishing all the time."

Pfc. Whitmire graduated from Hillcrest High School last year where he was on the debate team. Family members say he had offers to go to Harvard University but decided to join the military instead.



US Army Specialist Kurt W. Kern, from Texas, was killed on 27th December 2011 when a bomb detonated while he was on combat operations in Paktia.

24-year-old Spc. Kern was one of three soldiers serving with the Texas-based 89th Military Police Brigade killed in the incident. He had been in Afghanistan for less than one month.

Spc. Kern, a McAllen Memorial graduate, joined the armed forces in September 2009 as a military police officer after studying at the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin.

Spc. Kern's older brother, Keith, told local news reporters that his brother was "proud to be a soldier and really loved his job. Ever since he was little, he wanted to be a soldier. He finally went for it and loved it." His family said later that Spc. Kern had been "so intent on serving his country, that when his original deployment was canceled, he volunteered to deploy with another unit."



US Army Sergeant Noah M. Korte, from California, was one of three soldiers serving with the Texas-based 89th Military Police Brigade killed on 27th December 2011, when a bomb detonated while he was on combat operations in Paktia.

29-year-old Sgt. Korte joined the Army in 2003 and deployed to Afghanistan earlier this month. He served three tours of duty in Iraq — from January to April 2004, March 2005 to February 2006 and September 2007 to December 2008. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.

His awards and decorations included four Army Commendation medals, two Good Conduct ribbons, the National Defense Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Medal