Happy Easter.
The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a U.S. hospital of their injuries:Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va.; staff sergeant, Army. Arnette died April 1 of injuries suffered a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. Another soldier was killed in the blast. Arnette was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Shane R. Becker, 35, of Helena, Mont.; staff sergeant, Army. Becker was killed Tuesday when his unit was attacked with smallarms fire in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.
William G. Bowling, 24, of Beattyville, Ky.; specialist, Army. Bowling was among four soldiers killed April 1 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
James J. Coon, 22, of Walnut Creek, Calif.; private first class, Army. Coon was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Gabriel J. Figueroa, 20, of Baldwin Park; private first class, Army. Figueroa was killed Tuesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Wilfred Flores Jr. , 20, of Lawton, Okla.; specialist, Army. Flores was killed March 31 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. Another soldier wounded in the blast died of his injuries a day later. Flores was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Agustin Gutierrez, 19, of San Jacinto; specialist, Army. Gutierrez was one of two soldiers who died March 29 of injuries suffered a day earlier when their vehicle overturned in north Kabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
Bradley D. King, 28, of Marion, Ind.; staff sergeant, Army National Guard. King was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad's Amiriya neighborhood. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 152nd Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade in Marion.
Miguel A. Marcial III, 19, of Secaucus, N.J.; private first class, Marine Corps. Marcial died April 1 in a noncombat-related incident in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Edmund W. McDonald, 25, of Casco, Maine; sergeant, Army. McDonald was one of two soldiers who died March 29 of injuries suffered a day earlier when their vehicle overturned in north Kabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
Robert M. McDowell, 30, of Deer Park, Texas; sergeant, Army. McDowell was among four soldiers killed April 1 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
David A. Mejias, 26, of San Juan, Puerto Rico; staff sergeant, Army. Mejias was among four soldiers killed April 1 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Daniel R. Olsen, 20, of Eagan, Minn.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Olsen was killed in combat Monday in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Joe Polo, 24, of Opalocka, Fla.; sergeant, Army. Polo was killed March 29 when his unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.
Brian E. Ritzberg, 24, of New York; specialist, Army. Ritzberg died in Balad, Iraq, of injuries suffered Monday when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into his compound in Kirkuk, northeast of Baghdad, and he was struck by shrapnel. He was assigned to the 977th Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.
Joseph C. Schwedler, 27, of Crystal Falls, Mich.; petty officer second class, Navy. Schwedler was killed in combat Friday in Iraq's Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to Navy SEAL Team 4 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Jason A. Shaffer, 28, of Derry, Pa.; specialist, Army. Shaffer was killed Thursday when a car bomb exploded near his Bradley fighting vehicle in Baqubah, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Neale M. Shank, 25, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; first lieutenant, Army. Shank died March 31 in a noncombatrelated incident in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Curtis R. Spivey, 25, of Chula Vista, Calif.; specialist, Army. Spivey died Monday at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in La Jolla, where he was being treated for injuries suffered Sept. 16 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Eric R. Vick, 25, of Spring Hope, N.C.; staff sergeant, Army. Vick was among four soldiers killed April 1 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Christopher M. Wilson, 24, of Bangor, Maine; specialist, Army. Wilson was killed March 29 when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near him in Korengal Outpost near eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
Every time I read the current list on your blog, it saddens me greatly. The April 2nd issue of Newsweek had "Voices of the Fallen". It's very poignant and so, so sad. My friend, Dave Taylor, is in there.
Posted by: KC | Monday, April 09, 2007 at 01:05 PM