We Remember the Fallen

"In every war women like Alice House waited and worried, never knowing when to expect a visit from a military chaplain or a telegram beginning with that pulse-stopping first line: 'The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret that...' And if that notification did come, their lives were instantly shattered. 'There are no words to describe how I felt. I was so empty,' Theresa O. Davis wrote thirty years after her son, Richard was killed in Vietnam. 'I pretended to be brave. But inside, the empty space just grew bigger.'"
   --Andrew Carroll,  in War Letters

The surge may be working--many of our troops are trying to extend a hand to the Iraqis and people in Afghanistan. Slowly we are beginning to learn that you do not change hearts and minds with bombs and guns. And still our young men and women die month after month. Remember the fallen and their families.

Sgt. Ralph Mena / age 27 / Hutchinson, KS / Died of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident in Tikrit, Iraq / May 4, 2010.

Airman 1st Class Austin H. Gates-Benson / age 19 / Hellertown, PA / Died of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident near Khyber, Afghanistan,/ May 3, 2010.

1st Lt. Salvatore S. Corma / age 24 / Wenonah, NJ / Died of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using roadside bombs at Forward Operating Base Bullard in Zabul province, Afghanistan. / April 29, 2010.

Lance Cpl. Thomas E. Rivers, Jr. / age 22 / Birmingham, AL / Died while suppporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan / April 28, 2010.

Sgt. Nathan P. Kennedy / age 24 / Claysville, PA / Died of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire near Quarando Village, Afghanistan / April 27, 2010.

Sgt. Keith A. Coe / age 30 / Auburndale, FL / Died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an explosive devoce in Khalis, Iraq / April 27, 2010.

Sgt. Grant A. Wichmann / age 27 / Golden, COL / Died at Walter Reed Army Hospital, DC of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit at Out Post Bari Alai, Afghanistan, March 12 / April 24, 2010.

Sgt. Anthony O. Magee / age 29 / Hattiesburg, MS / Died at Landstuhl Medical Center, Germany of wounds sustained April 24 when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire in Babil province, Iraq  / April 24, 2010.

Sgt. Ronald Alam Kubik / age 22 / Brielle, NJ / One of two soldiers that died of wounds sustained during a firefight with enemy forces in Logar province, Afghanistan / April 23, 2010.

Sgt. Jason Anthony Santora / age 25 /Massapequa Park, NY / The second soldier killed in that firefight in Logar province, Afghanistan / April 23, 2010.

Command Sgt. Maj. John K. Laborde / age 53 / Waterloo, IOWA / Died of injuries sustained from  a non-combat related incident at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan / April 22, 2010.

Sgt. Robert J.  Barrett / age 21 / Fall River, MASS / Died from injuries sustained when a suicide bomber attacked his unit in Kabul, Afghanistan / April 19, 2010.

Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Worrell / age 35 / Virginia Beach, VA / Died of injuries sustained during a non-combat related incident in Baghdad, Iraq / April 22, 2010.

Pfc. Charlie C. Antonio / age 28 / Kahului, HAWAII / Died of injuries sustained in a  non-combat related incident in Annassar, Iraq / April 18, 2010.

Staff Sgt. James R. Patton / age 23 / Fort Benning, GA / Died of injuries sustained when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a Iraqi-US raid in Tikrit, Iraq / April 18, 2010.

Sgt. Randolph  A. Sigley / age 28 / Richmond, KY / Sigley was found dead at Bagram Air Base in Baghram, Afghanistan / April 18, 2010.

Sgt. Michael K. Ingram, Jr. / age 23 / Monroe, MICH / Died of wounds suffered when a roadside bomb detonated in Kandahar, Afghanistan / April 17, 2010.

Sgt. Sean M. Durkin / age 24 / Aurora, COL / Wounded April 9, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with a roadside bomb in Kandahar province, Afghanistan / died at Walter Reed Hospital, DC / April 9, 2010.

Cpl. Michael D. Jankiewicz / age 23 / Romsey, NJ / Killed along with two US Airmen and a government contractor when their CV-22 Osprey crashed in Zabul province, Afghanistan / April 9, 2010.