Iowa National Guard Sgt. Adam Craig

US Army Sergeant Adam Daniel Craig, aged 23, from Cherokee, Iowa, died on 4th March 2011, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, following a courageous battle with cancer with his family by his side.

Sgt. Craig enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in December 2004 and served with 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Sioux City, Iowa.

He had served in Afghanistan prior to being diagnosed with cancer.

Sgt. Craig was born in Storm Lake, Iowa in October 1987. His childhood years were spent in Cherokee, where he attended school and graduated from Washington High School in 2006.

US Army Staff Sgt. James Justice

US Army Staff Sgt. James A. Justice, aged 32, from Grimes, Iowa died on 23rd April 2011 in Kapisa province, Afghanistan from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. 

He served with 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, based at Le Mars, Iowa.

Staff Sgt. Justice enlisted as an Infantryman in the Iowa Army National Guard in September 1998 at Denison, Iowa and completed Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Benning, Georgia in May 1999.  

He previously deployed to Operation Desert Spring (Kuwait) in 2001, the Multinational Force Observer peacekeeping mission (Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) in 2003-2004, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005-2006.  Prior to his mobilization, he was employed full-time by the Iowa National Guard at Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa.

He leaves a wife and child.

U.S Army Spc. Donald Nichols

U.S Army Spc. Donald L. Nichols, aged 21, from Shell Rock, Iowa, died on 13th April 2011 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when a road mine exploded directly beneath the vehicle he was in.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Iowa Army National Guard, Waterloo, Iowa.

Spc. Nichols was born on 3rd September 1989 in Waterloo, Iowa and graduated from Waverly (Iowa) High School in 2009. Prior to his mobilization, he worked at the Walmart store in Waverly, Iowa.

Spc. Nichols enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in March 2008. Following graduation from Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry as an Infantryman.

U.S Army Spc. Brent Maher

Brent with his wife, Brenna

U.S Army Spc. Brent Maher, aged 31, from Council Bluffs, Iowa, died 11th April 2011 near the Pakistan border in Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Spc. Maher was a gunner on the vehicle.

He was serving with the Iowa National Guard 1st Btn, 168th Infantry Regiment, stationed Combat Outpost Dand Patan in eastern Afghanistan.

He leaves his wife, Brenna, of Council Bluffs; stepfather Mick Tyner, and three children from a previous marriage, Kaitlyn, 9; Matthew, 8; and Hannah, 4, who live with their mother in Michigan.