U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan
As of Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at least 2,207 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, 17,674 U.S. service members have been wounded as of Sept. 30, 2012, according to iCasualties.org.
Latest identifications:
Air Force Capt. James Michael Steel, 29, Tampa, Fla., died April 3, 2013 in the crash of an F-16 near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
Army Spc. Wilbel A. Robles-Santa, 25, Juncos, Puerto Rico, died April 6, 2013 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while delivering textbooks to children in Zabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army Spc. Deflin M. Santos Jr., 24, San Jose, Calif., died April 6, 2013 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while delivering textbooks to children in Zabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 24, Oak Ridge, Tenn., died April 6, 2013 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while delivering textbooks to children in Zabul, Afghanistan. He was a cavalry scout assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew P. Ruffner, 34, Tafford, Pa., died April 9, 2013 in Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when his AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed. He was assigned to the 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jarett M. Yoder, 26, Mohnton, Pa., died April 9, 2013 in Pachir Wa Agam District, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when his AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed. He was assigned to the 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.
Army Pfc. Barrett L. Austin, 20, Easley, S.C., died April 21, 2013 in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when his vehicle was attacked by an enemy improvised explosive device in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, April 17. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army Capt. Aaron R. Blanchard, 32, Selah, Wash., died April 23, 2013 in Pul-E-Alam, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy indirect fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Aviation Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Army 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess, 26, Fairfax, Va., died April 23, 2013 in Pul-E-Alam, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy indirect fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Aviation Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Air Force Capt. Brandon L. Cyr, 28, Woodbridge, Va., died April 27, 2013 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. He was assigned to the 906th Air Refueling Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard A. Dickson, 24, Rancho Cordova, Calif., died April 27, 2013 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. He was assigned to the 306th Intelligence Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin, 30, Morehead, Ky., died April 27, 2013 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. He was assigned to the 552nd Operations Support Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.
Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, 30, Kailua, Hawaii, died April 27, 2013 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. He was assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
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Related reports
Pilot Killed in Afghanistan Identified
Maj. Gen. Robert Steel, then-comandant of the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C., and his son, 1st Lt. James Steel, then a 63rd Fighter Squadron student pilot, talk in this file photo. (Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Ian Dean / Air Force Times — file)
By Jeff Schogol
Air Force Times
April 5, 2013
The F-16 pilot killed in an April 3 crash in eastern Afghanistan is the son of retired Maj. Gen. Robert Steel, former commandant of the National War College.
Capt. James Michael Steel, 29, of Tampa, Fla., died in the crash near Bagram Airfield, according to the Defense Department. Steel was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. …
Steel graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2006, following in the footsteps of his father and other family members.
His father, a fighter pilot, was commandant of the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington D.C., before he retired in 2011. …
Just after 11 p.m. local time April 3, the F-16 lost contact with its wingman and the tower while it was getting ready for final approach to Bagram, said Capt. Natassia Cherne, a spokeswoman for Air Forces Central Command.
“There was no indication of enemy activity at the time of the incident,†Cherne said in an email. “The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the airman’s family. The loss of our airman will be felt throughout the Air Force.†…
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Afghan Attacks Kill Three U.S. Soldiers, Four Others, Officials Say
Video
Four Americans killed in Afghanistan (NBCNews.com, April 6, 2013) — The State Department has confirmed that one civilian employee was killed in the eastern Afghanistan region. Meanwhile, three more Americans, all of them U.S. troops, were killed in a separate incident in southern Afghanistan. MSNBC’s Craig Melvin reports. (00:22)
By Ismail Sameem
April 6, 2013
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A car bomb attack killed six people, including three U.S. soldiers and an Afghan doctor, in southern Afghanistan on Saturday and an American civilian died in a separate attack in the east, local and international officials said. …
The American troops were traveling in a convoy of vehicles in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, when the car bomb exploded. Provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Nasery was unharmed but a local doctor and two foreign civilians also died, according to local and NATO officials. …
In a separate attack in Afghanistan’s east, an American civilian working with the U.S. government was killed during an insurgent attack, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. …
The killings come in the wake of a bloody Taliban assault in the country’s west on Wednesday that killed 44 people in a courtroom in Farah province. The United Nations says civilians are being increasingly targeted in 2013. …
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2 U.S. Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash
U.S. Black Hawk helicopters arrive at the scene after a NATO helicopter crashed in a field killing two American service members near Gerakhel in the Pachir Agam district of Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2013. (Photo credit: Rahmat Gul / AP)
By John Newland
Staff Writer
April 9, 2013
Two American service members were killed in a helicopter crash Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, the military said.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said Tuesday that there was no enemy activity in the area when the crash occurred and that the cause was under investigation. …
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