U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of Monday, April 2, 2012, at least 1,923 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to iCasualties.org.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, 15,614 U.S. service members have been wounded as of March 31, 2012, according to iCasualties.org.

Latest identifications:

Army Staff Sgt. Jordan L. Bear, 25, Denver, Colo., died March 1, 2012 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small-arms fire during an attack on his base. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Army Pfc. Payton A. Jones, 19, Marble Falls, Texas, died March 1, 2012 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small-arms fire during an attack on his base. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Marine Corps Cpl. Conner T. Lowry, 24, Chicago, Ill., died March 1, 2012 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Army Spc. Edward J. Acosta, 21, Hesperia, Calif., died March 5, 2012 in La Jolla, Calif., of injuries sustained Dec. 3, 2011, in Wardak province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

Army Staff Sgt. Jesse J. Grindey, 30, Hazel Green, Wis., died March 12, 2012 of unspecified causes in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 287th Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Riley, Kan.

Army Spc. Daquane D. Rivers, 21, Marianna, Fla., died March 14, 2012 from injuries sustained in a non-combat incident in Paktika province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Army 2nd Lt. Clovis T. Ray, 34, San Antonio, Texas died March 15, 2012 in Kunar province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Army Sgt. Jamie D. Jarboe, 27, Frankfort, Ind., died March 21, 2012 in Topeka, Kan., from wounds suffered on April 10, 2011 in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire during a foot patrol. [A bullet from a sniper’s AK-47 rifle penetrated Sgt. Jarboe’s spine and left him paralyzed from the chest down. He endured more than 100 surgeries before being placed in hospice care shortly before his death.] He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

Army National Guard Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, Providence, R.I., died March 22, 2012 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered in a non-combat incident [a vehicle accident; see related report below]. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 56th Troop Command, Rhode Island National Guard, East Greenwich, R.I.

Army Sgt. Daniel J. Brown, 27, Jerome, Idaho, died March 24, 2012 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Army Capt. Aaron D. Istre, 37, Vinton, La., died March 24, 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Fort Hood, Texas.

Army Sgt. William R. Wilson III, Getzville, N.Y., died March 26, 2012 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds from small-arms fire. His death was originally reported by the International Security Assistance Force, which characterized it as the result of gunshot wounds inflicted by an alleged member of the Afghan Local Police. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Marine Corps Sgt. Joseph D’Augustine, 29, Waldwick, N.J., died March 27, 2012 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Air Force Capt. Francis D. Imlay, 31, Vacaville, Calif., died March 28, 2012 from injuries received in an accident involving an F-15 aircraft near a base in Southwest Asia. He was assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

Army Pfc. Johnathon F. Davis, 20, Griffin, Ga., died March 29, 2012 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy small-arms fire. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Marine Corps Cpl. Michael J. Palacio, 23, Lake Elsinore, Calif., died March 29, 2012 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

Army Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, Dixon, Ky., died March 29, 2012 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by an accident at an ammunition supply point. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Marine Corps Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, 24, Harbor City, Calif., died March 30, 2012 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Army Sgt. James E. Dutton, 25, Checotah, Okla., died March 31, 2012 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of unspecified causes. He was assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

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Related reports

Four 20-Year-Olds Named Among Victims of Deadly Attack on British Soldiers in Afghanistan

PhotoBlog

March 8, 2012

Britain’s Ministry of Defence has released the names and photographs of six soldiers who were killed after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan on Tuesday. Four of them were aged just 20 and a fifth was 21.

They are (top row, left to right) Sergeant Nigel Coupe, aged 33, Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, Private Anthony Frampton, 20, (bottom row, left to right) Private Christopher Kershaw, 20, Private Daniel Wade, 20 and Private Daniel Wilford, 21.

The attack marked the biggest single loss of life for British troops in Afghanistan since 2006. Their deaths take the overall tally of British forces killed in the country to 404 since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban.

The Story of Sgt. Dennis Weichel

U.S. Soldier Dies Saving Afghan Child

Sgt. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., a Rhode Island Army National Guard infantryman mobilized with Company C, 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, sits inside a Black Hawk helicopter prior to a mission earlier in his deployment in Afghanistan. Sgt. Weichel died March 22, 2012 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, while rescuing a child from being run over by a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle. (Photo credit: U.S. Army)

March 29, 2012

Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, of the Rhode Island National Guard died saving the life of a little girl in northeast Afghanistan, according to the Rhode Island National Guard.

According to the report, Weichel was in a convoy in Laghman Province last week when he noticed some children were in the path of the moving vehicles. Weichel and other soldiers got out to move them out of the way.

According to the press release, while most of the children scattered away, one girl went back to the road, as a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle continued moving toward her.

Weichel saw the massive truck moving toward the girl and grabbed her out of the way, the National Guard said. The girl survived, but Weichel died after the armored vehicle ran over him.

The National Guard said Weichel’s remains will be returned to Rhode Island on Saturday, according to the NBC Providence affiliate. The Army said Weichel leaves three children, a fiancee and his parents.

The circumstances of Weichel’s death speak to his character, Staff Sgt. Ronald Corbett, who deployed with Weichel to Iraq in 2005, said in a U.S. Army press release.

“He would have done it for anybody,” said Corbett. “That was the way he was. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was that type of guy.”

Weichel was posthumously promoted to sergeant, according to the press release. …

Full story

Video

Community mourns soldier who died saving Afghan child (NBC News, March 30, 2012 ) — A Rhode Island soldier is remembered after he died saving a child in Afghanistan. Mario Hilario reports. (01:12)

Good Deeds in Afghanistan Interrupt the Grim Narrative

By Rod Nordland

March 31, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan — The story of Specialist Dennis Weichel could easily serve as a counternarrative to the gruesome account of the American soldier charged with 17 counts of murder in Kandahar on March 11.

Specialist Weichel [posthumously promoted to sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star], who was 29, was killed while rescuing an Afghan child, but more than a week after that event the military here has yet to officially confirm what happened. Indeed, the initial details of the episode in northeastern Laghman Province came not from military officials but from Afghan civilians and then fellow soldiers and friends in the United States.

After months of what has seemed like a relentless series of episodes of soldiers behaving badly, from Koran burnings to massacres, the military was almost reluctant to trumpet its good deeds, not only in the Weichel case, but in another recent case where soldiers saved the life of a Taliban insurgent’s son.

On March 22, Specialist Weichel, an Army National Guardsman from Rhode Island, was riding in a convoy that was just leaving a firing range when he jumped from his vehicle to help clear a group of children out of the way. The children were trying to collect the brass shell casings at the range to sell for scrap metal. Afghan witnesses said that when a 10-year-old Afghan boy darted under a vehicle, Specialist Weichel climbed under and pushed him to safety. Then the huge vehicle ran over Specialist Weichel, killing him.

The boy, Zaiullah, the son of an Afghan policeman, confirmed the episode in an interview. …

“What that soldier did in Kandahar was such a brutal act, no human could do what he did,” he said, referring to the accusations against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in the Kandahar killings. “This soldier, he looked at my nephew as a human being and endangered his life to save my nephew’s life.” …

Full story

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Rhode Island National Guardsman, Killed while Saving an Afghan Boy, is Laid to Rest in Providence

PhotoBlog

April 2, 2012

Nicholas Weichel, son of Sgt. Dennis Weichel Jr., stands next to his father’s casket during funeral services. (Photo credit: Stew Milne / AP)

View more photos

Related reports on this site

U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan Over Koran Burning (Feb. 24, 2012)

Setback for U.S. in Afghan War (Jan. 13, 2012)