US Army Captain Aaron R. Blanchard, serving with the 2nd Aviation Battalion, was one of two American soldiers killed on 23rd April 2013 in Pul-e-Alam.
32-year-old Capt. Blanchard, from Selah, Washington, was commissioned in the US Army in June 2009, having previously served with the US Marine Corps. He trained as an Apache helicopter pilot and transferred to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, in 2011. He deployed with his unit to Afghanistan in April this year.
His awards include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, NATO Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Combat Action Badge and the Army Achievement Medal, among many other decorations.
Captain Blanchard leaves his wife, two children, mother, father and two brothers.
Captain Blanchard and his colleague, 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess, died from "wounds suffered from enemy indirect fire," according to a statement by the US department of Defense.
20-year-old US Army Pfc. Barrett L. Austin, serving with the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, died on 21st April 2013 at a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
Pfc. Austin, from Easley, South Carolina, had been severely injured on 17th April when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb in Wardak province.
He was based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Pfc. Austin leaves his wife, Heather, his parents and a sister.
US Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Ruffner, serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s Company B, 1-104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, was one of two soldiers killed on 9th April 2013 when their helicopter crashed during a reconnaissance mission in Nangarhar province.
34-year-old CWO3 Ruffner graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in criminology. He joined the military in 1997, serving initially as a mechanic in the Army Reserve’s 705th Transportation Company in Dayton, Ohio, before transferring to the Army National Guard’s 110th Infantry.
He went on to complete warrant officer training and transferred to the aviation career field in 2005 serving as an aviation life support equipment officer, tactical operations officer and instructor pilot. More recently, he was employed as a full-time Apache instructor pilot for the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Army Aviation Support Facility.
His awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, three Army Reserve Component Achievement Medals and the Parachutist Badge.
The other Pennsylvania National Guardsman killed in the crash was Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jarett Yoder.
The cause of the crash is being investigated.
US Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jarett Yoder, serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s Company B, 1-104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, was one of two soldiers killed on 9th April 2013 when their helicopter crashed during a reconnaissance mission in Nangarhar province.
27-year-old CWO2 Yoder joined the military in 2005 after graduating from High School the same year. He served as an infantryman and deployed to Iraq in 2008 with the 56th Stryker Brigade. In 2010, he became an Apache Helicopter pilot. His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and Driver and Mechanic Badge.
As reported on the Pennsylvania National Guard website, CWO2 Yoder’s wife Heather Garay-Yoder released the following statement: "Jarett is my American Hero. He always dreamed of being an Apache pilot and he followed those dreams to continue to fight for our country. Jarett died doing what he loved and dreamed of doing, a true hero. There are so many people who love him and we will never forget. I love you, always and forever. Your loving wife, Heather."
The other Pennsylvania National Guardsman killed in the crash was Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Ruffner.
The cause of the crash is being investigated.
Three US soldiers were named as victims of a suicide bomber who struck their convoy with a car on 6th April 2013.
The soldiers were part of a convoy of officials travelling to a school in Qalot, the provincial capital of Zabul province, to donate books for the students there. The suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into the convoy, killing six people and injuring at least ten more.
The soldiers, all serving with the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, were named by the US Department of Defense as:
24-year-old Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 25-year-old Spc. Wilbel Robles-Santa and 24-year-old Spc. Deflin M. Santos Jr.
Also among the victims was US Diplomat Anne Smedinghoff aged 25.
More information to follow.
43-year-old US Army Chief Warrant Officer Curtis S. Reagan, from Summerville, South Carolina, died in Kandahar on 29th March 2013 from a non-combat related illness.
CWO Reagan served with the 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, based at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
No further details are available at this time. More to follow.
26-year-old US Army Sergeant Michael C. Cable died on 27th March after being stabbed by a teenager in Nangarhar province.
Sgt. Cable, from Kentucky, was part of a unit tasked with securing an area for a joint US-Afghan meeting in Shinwar district of the province. At the time of the attack, he was outside the security cordon talking with a group of Afghan children. A teenager approached him from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a knife.
Sgt. Cable was serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
His body was repatriated to Dover Air Force Base last week.
US Army Sergeant Tristan M. Wade, from Indianapolis, was killed on 22nd March when a bomb exploded during an operation in Qarah Bagh, Ghazni.
23-year-old Sgt. Wade served as a combat engineer with the 573rd Clearance Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion which is based in New Mexico.
More information to follow.
23-year-old US Army Specialist Derek McConnell, severely injured in Afghanistan in 2011, was found dead at his home on 18th March 2013.
In July 2011, while serving in Afghanistan, he was caught in the blasts from two bombs during a patrol in Kandahar province. As a result, he lost both his legs and suffered a fractured skull, among other injuries.
Spc. McConnell, from New Jersey, joined the US Army in 2009. After he was wounded in action, he spent a year in a Maryland hospital and returned home to Parsippany in late 2012.
The incident happened as he brought his unit in to support fellow soldiers who had been injured by a hidden mine. McConnell had unknowingly walked into a minefield and, subsequently, two of the devices exploded. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal With Valor Device.
US Army helicopter pilot Chief Warrant Officer James E. Groves III was killed in a helicopter crash on 16th March 2013 at Kandahar.
37-year-old CWO Groves, from Kettering, Ohio, served with the Georgia-based 17th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, assigned to 3rd Squadron.
The cause of the crash is being investigated. There was no reported enemy action in the vicinity at the time of the incident.
CWO Groves was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.
US Army Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Henderson was one of five American soldiers killed on 11th March 2013 when their helicopter crashed in Kandahar province.
CWO Henderson, aged 27, served with the Georgia-based 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, part of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, came down in heavy rain during a routine flight and crashed in the Daman district of Kandahar. All five crew members on board were killed. There was no reported enemy action in the area at the time of the accident.
The other crew members killed were: Captain Sara Cullen (nee Knutson); Staff Sgt. Marc A. Scialdo; Staff Sgt. Steven P. Blass and Spc. Zachary L. Shannon.
More information to follow.
31-year-old US Army Staff Sgt. Marc A. Scialdo was one of five American soldiers killed on 11th March 2013 when their helicopter crashed in Kandahar province.
SSgt Scialdo, from Naples, Florida, served with the Georgia-based 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, part of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, came down in heavy rain during a routine flight and crashed in the Daman district of Kandahar. All five crew members on board were killed. There was no reported enemy action in the area at the time of the accident.
The other crew members killed were: Captain Sara Cullen (nee Knutson); Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Henderson; Staff Sgt. Steven P. Blass and Spc. Zachary L. Shannon.
More information to follow.
27-year-old US Army Staff Sgt. Steven P. Blass was one of five American soldiers killed on 11th March 2013 when their helicopter crashed in Kandahar province.
SSgt Blass, from Iowa, served with the Georgia-based 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, part of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, came down in heavy rain during a routine flight and crashed in the Daman district of Kandahar. All five crew members on board were killed. There was no reported enemy action in the area at the time of the accident.
The other crew members killed were: Captain Sara Cullen (nee Knutson); Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Henderson; Staff Sgt. Marc Scialdo and Spc. Zachary L. Shannon.
More information to follow.
US Army Captain Sara M. Cullen was among those killed on 11th March 2013 in a helicopter crash over Kandahar.
Capt. Cullen was one of the crew of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter flying above the Daman district of Kandahar during a heavy rainstorm when the aircraft crashed, killing all five US soldiers on board.
According to an announcement on the West Point website, Capt. Cullen (nee Knutson) had previously been based at Fort Wainwright in Alaska and had also deployed to Pakistan on a humanitarian mission. She deployed to Afghanistan in January.
She married a former Blackhawk pilot in November last year and he deployed to Afghanistan in February this year with a private contracting company.
More information to follow.
26-year-old US Army Specialist David T. Proctor died at Walter Reed Medical Center, Maryland, on 13th March 2013.
Spc. Proctor, from Greensboro, North Carolina, had been evacuated from Afghanistan where he had been injured in a non-combat incident in Kandahar province on 3rd March. He served with the Georgia-based 7th Infantry Regiment and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion.
His family were with him at the hospital when he died.
US Army Captain Andrew M. Pedersen-Keel was one of two American soldiers killed on Monday 11th March by an Afghan policeman in Jalrez, Wardak province.
Capt. Pedersen-Keel and US Army Staff Sgt. Rex Schad were attending a joint-services meeting when an Afghan policeman opened fire on the group. Three Afghans were killed and several troops injured in the attack.
28-year-old Capt. Pedersen-Keel served with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He graduated from the US Military Academy in 2006. In 2008, he served in Afghanistan and, at the end of that 12-month deployment, he completed the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course and joined the 3rd Special Forces Group in 2012. He deployed to Afghanistan on this current tour late last year.
Capt. Pedersen-Keel's awards and decorations include two Bronze Star Medals, Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, among others.
He was repatriated to Dover Air Force Base on 12th March 2013.
US Army Staff Sgt. Rex Schad was one of the US service personnel killed on Monday 11th March by an Afghan policeman in Wardak province.
His grandfather, Mr. Harold Whipple told news reporters that two Chaplains and an Army Sergeant visited the family on Monday afternoon with the bad news.
25-year-old Sgt. Schad had been in Afghanistan since November. This was his second tour of duty to the country.
More information to follow.
22-year-old US Army Spc. Cody D. Suggs from West Alexandria, Ohio, died at Kandahar Airfield on Thursday 7th March 2013 as a result of a non-combat related incident which is currently being investigated.
Spc. Suggs was serving with the Ohio National Guard's 1487th Transportation Company at the time of his death.
More information to follow.
US Army Sergeant Aaron X. Wittman was buried at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, 8th February 2013. More than 100 family members, friends and colleagues attended. His coffin was draped with an American flag and carried on a horse-drawn caisson. He was buried with full military honors.
Sgt. Wittman, from Chester, Virginia, was the first American fatality of the year in Afghanistan. He was killed during a mounted patrol in Nangahar province on 10th January, when enemy forces opened fire with assault weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. 28-year-old Sgt. Wittman was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment. This was his second deployment.
Sgt. Wittman was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, among others.
Read more at Washington Post
US Army Sergeant Mark H. Schoonhoven died on 20th January 2013 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He had been critically injured when a bomb exploded while he was serving in Kabul on 15th December last year.
38-year-old Sgt. Schoonhoven, from Plainwell, Michigan, was assigned to the Colorado-based 32nd Transportation Company, 43rd Sustainment Brigade.
This was his third tour in Afghanistan, having previously deployed there in 2007-2008 and in 2009-2010. He joined the Army in 2006.
US Army Captain Aaron R. Blanchard, serving with the 2nd Aviation Battalion, was one of two American soldiers killed on 23rd April 2013 in Pul-e-Alam.
