US Army Special Forces NCO dies in hospital in Germany

31-year-old US Army Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class James F. Grissom died on 21st March 2013 at the US Military Hospital, in Landstuhl, Germany.

Sfc. Grissom, from Hayward, California, had been transferred to the hospital after being wounded by small-arms fire during an operation in Paktika province on 18th March. This was his fifth deployment to Afghanistan.

He joined the US Army in June 2003 after attending the Art Institute of Of San Francisco, from where he earned a degree. At the time of his death, he was serving with the 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Washington.

Sfc. Grissom, who leaves his wife, parents and sister, has been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.

US Navy SEAL CPO Christian Pike

US Navy Chief Petty Officer Christian Michael Pike, died on 13th March 2013 from injuries he received during combat operations in Maiwand, Afghanistan.

CPO Pike, aged 31, was evacuated to Landstuhl in Germany after being wounded on 10th March. Sadly, he died while being treated at Landstuhl.

CPO Pike, from Arizona, served with a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit. He joined the US Navy in August 2001. After completing cryptologic training at Corry Station in April 2003, he served aboard the USS Cleveland from May 2003 to July 2007, followed by a tour at the Navy Information Operations Command San Diego from July 2007 to July 2011. He joined the Naval Special Warfare unit in July 2011.

His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (3), Navy Good Conduct Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, GWOT Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, and NATO Medal.

He is survived by his mother Diana, sister Denise and fiancée Morgan. His mother paid this tribute: "Christian was so proud to be a Navy Chief with the Special Warfare community, and he was living honorably, a life he chose. "He wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would I."

British Army Private Mark Connolly

Private Mark Connolly, aged 24, serving with the British Army Black Watch died on Saturday 14th May 2011 after a fight in a German bar.

Pvt. Connolly had served in Afghanistan and had survived a bomb blast while serving there.

Two fellow Black Watch soldiers were arrested over the fight which erupted after an argument about football.

Specialist detectives from the British Army Special Investigation Branch have been drafted in to investigate the death.

A colleague of Pvt. Connolly told reporters: "A lot of drink was taken and a minor disagreement about football blew up. Two of Mark's so-called comrades gave him a beating. He survived the Taliban but then dies at the hands of men who are supposed to be his mates."

3 German soldiers killed, Feb 18th, have been named

The three German soldiers who were ambushed on 18th February while performing maintenance on a vehicle have been named.

They are:

Master Sergeant, Georg Missulia

Specialist, Konstantin Menz

L-Corporal, Georg Kurat

All three served with 112. Panzergrenadierbattalion/12. Panzerbrigade (112th Armored Grenadier Battalion of 12th Armored Brigade).

German soldier, Georg Kurat

L-Cpl Georg Kurat

Hauptgefreiter (Lance-Corporal) Georg Kurat

Died on 19th February 2011.

He was one of three German soldiers killed when an insurgent launched an assault while they were performing maintenance on a vehicle. The gunman opened fire on the group with an automatic rifle.

The incident occured at the "Observation Point North" base, in the Puli Khumri district.

L-Cpl Kurat, aged 21, served with the  112th. Panzergrenadierbattalion, 12th. Panzerbrigade (112th Armored Grenadier Battalion of 12th Armored Brigade).

German army specialist, Konstantin Menz

Konstantin Menz

Stabsgefreiter (Specialist) Konstantin Menz

Died on 18th February 2011.

He was one of three German soldiers killed when an insurgent launched an assault while they were performing maintenance on a vehicle. The gunman opened fire on the group with an automatic rifle.

The incident occured at the "Observation Point North" base, in the Puli Khumri district.

Specialist Menz, aged 22, served with the  112th. Panzergrenadierbattalion, 12th. Panzerbrigade (112th Armored Grenadier Battalion of 12th Armored Brigade).

German military fatalities since 2002

German military fatalities in Afghanistan since 2002

Date	Name	Rank	Age	Unit	Cause
2011
02-Jun	Kobelew, Alexej	1st Cpl	23	212 Panzer Grenadier	IED attack
28-May	Tholi, Thomas	Major	43	Command Support Battalion	Suicide bomb
28-May	Langenstein, Tobias	Sgt. 1st	31	152 Military Police	Suicide bomb
25-May	Matthes, Markus	Captain	33	Special Operations Div.	IED attack
19-Feb	Kurat, Georg	L-Corporal	21	12th Armored Brigade	Gunshot
18-Feb	Menz, Konstantin	Specialist	22	12th Armored Brigade	Gunshot
18-Feb	Missulia, Georg	Mstr. Sgt.	30	12th Armored Brigade	Gunshot
2010
17-Dec	Oertel, Oliver	Corporal	21	232 Mountain Infantry	Gunshot
07-Oct	Pauli, Florian	Mstr. Sgt.	26	373 Parachute Regiment	Suicide bomb
15-Apr	Broer, Thomas	Surgeon	33	Military Hospital Ulm	Hostile fire
15-Apr	Radloff, Jörn	Major	38	School of Army Land Forces	Hostile fire
15-Apr	Dubnicki, Marius	Sgt. Major	32	8th Mountain Engineer	Hostile fire
15-Apr	Kronawitter, Josef	Sergeant	24	8th Mountain Engineer	Hostile fire
02-Apr	Bruns, Nils	Sergeant	35	373 Parachute Regiment	RPG attack
02-Apr	Augustyniak, Martin	Corporal	28	373 Parachute Regiment	RPG attack
02-Apr	Hartert, Robert	Corporal	25	373 Parachute Regiment	RPG attack
2009
04-Oct	Sauer, Patric	Corporal	24	263 Parachute Regiment	Suicide bomb
23-Jun	Brunn, Martin	Corporal	23	Panzergrenadierbataillon	Hostile fire
23-Jun	Schleiernick, Alex	Corporal	23	263 Parachute Regiment	Hostile fire
23-Jun	Meiling, Oleg	Corporal	21	391 Mechanised Infantry	Hostile fire
29-Apr	Motz, Sergey	Corporal	21	292 Military Police	RPG attack
14-Mar	Hötzel, Conrad	Corporal	21	37 Mechanised Infantry	Accident
11-Feb	Janelt, Alexander	Lieutenant		32 Medical Regiment	Hostile fire
2008
20-Oct	Schmidt, Roman	Corporal	22	263 Parachute Regiment	Suicide bomb
20-Oct	Behlke, Patrick	Corporal	25	263 Parachute Regiment	Suicide bomb
27-Aug	Meier, Mischa	Sgt Major	29	263 Parachute Regiment	IED attack
25-Aug	Cemnitz, Christian	Sergeant		Not reported	Unknown
2007
08-Sep	Not released	NA		Not reported	Non-hostile
15-Aug	Keller, Mario	Sergeant	39	GSG9 German Police	IED attack
15-Aug	Ringel, Jörg	Major	31	Sicherungsgruppe	IED attack
15-Aug	Stoffels, Alexander	Sergeant	39	GSG9 German Police	IED attack
19-May	Diebel, Michael	Sergeant	28	Army Supply Depot, Darmstadt	Suicide bomb
19-May	Neumann, Michael	Sergeant	48	Marine Arsenal, Kiel	Suicide bomb
19-May	Standfuß, Matthias	Captain	31	Defence Ministry, Bonn	Suicide bomb
2006
17-Dec	Kopp, Christian	Sergeant	24	Panzer Training Battalion	Accident
2005
14-Nov	Franz, Armin	Lt Colonel	44	Field Replacement Battalion 901	Suicide bomb
07-Aug	Nowitzki, Boris	Corporal		Panzer Artillery Battalion 345	Accident
26-Jun	Heine, Andreas	Sergeant	37	PRT-Team Kunduz	Explosion
26-Jun	Schlotterhose, Christian	Sergeant	26	PRT-Team Kunduz	Explosion
2004
17-Oct	Schattmann, Silvio	Corporal		Panzer Artillery Battalion 345
2003
06-Jul	Jimenez-Paradis, Helmi	Sergeant		German Army, 320 Signals	Suicide bomb
06-Jul	Beljo, Andreas	CWO	28	German Army, 940 Signals	Suicide bomb
06-Jul	Baasch, Joerg	Sergeant		German Army, 940 Signals	Suicide bomb
06-Jul	Kuehlmorgen, Carsten	Sergeant	32	German Army, 320 Signals	Suicide bomb
29-May	Kamins, Stefan	Pfc.	24	German Army Information Unit	Land mine
17-May	Hofert, Alexander	Major	33	Fighter Bomber Wing 33	Suicide bomb
2002
21-Dec	Ehrlich, Frank	Sergeant	29	Luftwaffe	Air crash
21-Dec	Hewußt, Heinz-Ullrich	Sergeant	41	15th Army Aviation Regiment	Air crash
21-Dec	Schiebel, Thomas	Sergeant	28	25th Army Aviation Regiment	Air crash
21-Dec	Vierling, Uwe	Lieutenant	31	15th Aviation Regiment	Air crash
21-Dec	Deininger, Friedrich	Captain	53	25th Army Aviation Regiment	Air crash
21-Dec	Kaiser, Bernhard	Sergeant	46	15th Army Aviation Regiment	Air crash
21-Dec	Schmidt, Enrico	Private	24	25th Army Aviation Regiment	Air crash
20-Mar	Nippus, Holger	Captain	0	D/NL Corps	Non-hostile
06-Mar	Rubel, Mike	Sergeant	27	11 Munster	Explosion
06-Mar	Kochert, Thomas	Sergeant	29	11 Munster	Explosion

German Army Sergeant, Josef Kronawitter

German Army Master Sergeant, Josef Kronawitter, aged 24, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Major Jorn Radloff and Sergeant Marius Dubnicki.

German Army Sergeant, Marius Dubnicki

Marius Dubnicki

German Army Master Sergeant, Marius Dubnicki, aged 32, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Major Jorn Radloff and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

German Army officer, Major Jörn Radloff

Major Jörn Radloff

German Army officer, Major Jörn Radloff, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Thomas Broer, Sergeant Marius Dubnicki and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

German Army officer, Major Thomas Broer

Major Thomas Broer

German Army officer, Major Thomas Broer, was one of four German soldiers serving with ISAF, killed on 15th April 2010 in a fierce gun battle with Taliban insurgents.

The battle, near Eisakhel village, Chardarah province in Kunduz, lasted over two hours and involved small arms fire, machine-gun and rocket propelled grenade fire.

At the end of it, four German soldiers were dead, four seriously injured and at least twenty Taliban were dead.

The other three Germans were Major Jorn Radloff, Sergeant Marius Dubnicki and Sergeant Josef Kronawitter.

German Paratrooper, Roman Schmidt

Roman Schmidt

Stabsgefreiter (Staff Corporal) Roman Schmidt was 22 years old when he was  killed during a suicide bomb blast on 20th October 2008. At the time, he and a colleague were searching for a hidden weapons cache in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

He joined the German Army on New Years Day 2005 and was assigned to the 2nd Company, 263rd Paratrooper Battalion.

He had previously in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

German Paratrooper, Patrick Behlke

Patrick Behlke

Stabsunteroffizier (Staff Sergeant) Patrick Behlke was one of two German Paratroopers killed, 20th October 2008, during a suicide bomb blast as they searched for a hidden weapons cache in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

The 25 year old belonged to the 2nd Company, 263rd Paratrooper Battalion. He joined the German Army on New Years Day 2004 and was assigned to the unit after initial training. He had been in Afghanistan since September 2008.

This was his second overseas deployment. He previously served with EUFOR in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

German paratrooper, Mischa Meier

Mischa Meier

German Army Sergeant-Major, Mischa Meier, aged 29, was killed on 27th August 2008 when the vehicle he was in drove over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kunduz, Afghanistan.

Sgt-Major Meier, who served with the 263rd Paratroop Battalion, was commander of a patrol when the incident happened.

He only had four weeks left to serve in Afghanistan.

German soldier, Christian Cemnitz

Master Sergeant Christian Cemnitz, serving with the German Army in Afghanistan, died in hospital in Termez, Uzbekistan on 25th August 2008.

The only information we have been able to gather is that he was airlifted from Afghanistan and was being flown to Germany, via Uzbekistan, when he died.

We have no information as to whether he was injured in action or whether he was being repatriated due to an illness.

If anyone has any information about this incident, we would be pleased to hear from you.

German Sergeant Michael Neumann

German Sergeant Michael Neumann, age 48, was one of three German military personnel killed on 19th May 2007 in Kunduz, Afghanistan from the blast of a suicide bomber.

Sgt. Neumann was attached to the Marine Arsenal in Kiel.

Journalist, Volke Handloik

Volker Handloik, a German freelance reporter for Die Stern, was killed 11th November 2001, in a Taliban ambush of a Northern Alliance military column near Shatarai (northern Afghanistan), with Radio France International (RFI) senior reporter Johanne Sutton and Pierre Billaud, a correspondent for Radio TV Luxembourg.

Over 100 fighters were killed that night in the same valley.

Four other journalists, including Véronique Rebeyrotte, of the radio station France Culture, and Levon Sevunts, of Canada’s Montreal Gazette, were in the same vehicle but escaped.