Honoring The Memory of Michigans Fallen Troops

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FALLEN MICHIGAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM FROM: 2002-2007
Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Chapman, 36, of Windsor Locks, Conn., died March 4, 2002, after his helicopter came under attack by Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. His father Eugene Chapman lives in Belding. Sgt. Chapman served with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron.
Air Force Senior Airman Jason Plite, 21, of Lansing, MI. Plite died in an HH-60 Pave Hawk accident in Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 38th Rescue Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. Died on March 23, 2003.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Howard A. Walters, 33, of Port Huron, MI. Walters died in an MH-53M helicopter accident in Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida. Died on November 23, 2003.
Army Sgt. Robert P. Kassin, 29, a Flint native, was killed by enemy fire at Larzab Base on July 16, 2006. He served with the 10th Mountain Division.
Army Pvt. Joseph Blake, 34, of Livonia, was killed by enemy fire in Turkalay on Aug. 17, 2006. He served with the 10th Mountain Division.
Major Douglas Sloan, 40, born in Charlevoix, MI was killed October 31, 2006 when his vehicle struck an IED in the Waigul Valley in Afghanistan. Major Sloan was the Commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, New York.
Army Pfc. Joseph A. Miracle, 22, of Ortonville, died on July 5, 2007 after being wounded in an enemy attack in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. He was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy.
Army Pfc. Jordan E. Goode 21, of Kalamazoo, Mich assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. died Aug. 11, 2007 in Zormont, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew D. Blaskowski, 27, of Levering, Mich., died Sept. 23, 2007 in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.
Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour, 21, of Swartz Creek, Mich., died Nov. 10, 2007 in Aranus. of wounds sustained when his patrol was attacked by direct fire from enemy forces in Aranus, Afghanistan, on Nov 9. he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.
Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks, 28, of Troy, Mich., died Nov. 9, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Aranus, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, Calif.
Pfc. Antione V. Robinson, 20, of Detroit, Mich., died March 19, 2008 in Nawa, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when the vehicle he was repairing collapsed. He was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM: 2003 MICHIGAN FALLEN SOLDIERS
Army Pvt. Brandon Sloan, 19, of Bedford Heights, Ohio, was killed when his unit, the 507th Maintenance Co., was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003. Sloan's mother, Kimberly, lives in Fraser, MI.
Marine Maj. Kevin Nave, 36, formerly White Lake Township, MI, was killed when he was run over by a military vehicle March 26, 2003. Nave was a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and lived in Oceanside, Calif. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Army Sgt. Todd James Robbins, 33, formerly of Pentwater, MI, died after the Bradley fighting vehicle he manned with eight other soldiers apparently was bombed April 2, 2003, possibly by friendly fire. Robbins, a veteran of the first Gulf War, was stationed at Fort Sill, Okla. He left behind a wife and 13-year-old son from a previous marriage.
Army Sgt. Michael Pedersen, 26, formerly of Flint, MI, was one of six soldiers killed in the crash of an Army Black Hawk helicopter April 2, 2003, during a fire fight in Iraq, his wife said. He served as a helicopter crew chief with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Ga.
Army Pfc. Jason Meyer, 23, was killed April 7, 2003, when his personnel carrier took fire. He graduated from Howell High School in 1999 and joined the Army in 2001. Meyer was based in Fort Stewart, Ga., and had celebrated his first wedding anniversary two weeks before his death.
Marine Pfc. Juan Garza, 20, of Temperance, MI was killed by sniper fire April 8, 2003. Garza graduated from Summerfield High School in 2002 and was married the day after Christmas.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott Sather, 29, of Clio, MI, was killed in action in Iraq on April 8, 2003. He was assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, based out of Pope Air Force Base, N.C.
Army Spc. Richard A. Goward, 32, of Midland, MI was killed April 14, 2003, when his truck entered a dust cloud and collided with another truck in Iraq. Goward was assigned to the Midland-based 1460th Transportation Company of the Michigan Army National Guard. The father of two daughters served on active duty with the Army from 1990 to 1996, then joined the Michigan Guard after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Army Sgt. Sean Reynolds, 25, was killed May 3, 2003, in an apparent accident involving his own weapon in northern Iraq. He grew up in Detroit, MI and graduated from East Lansing High School in 1995. Reynolds was assigned to the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, deployed near Kirkuk. The 173rd is based in Vicenza, Italy.
Army Master Sgt. William Lee Payne, 46, who joined the Army shortly after graduating from Otsego High School in 1975, died May 16, 2003, in Haswah, Iraq. He was killed when an ordnance exploded as he examined it. Payne was an intelligence officer for the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
Army Staff Sgt. Brett J. Petriken, 30, of Flint, MI, a military police officer, was one of two soldiers killed May 26, 2003, when a heavy equipment transporter crossed a median and struck his vehicle in Samawah, Iraq. He was part of the 501st Military Police Unit of the 1st Armored Division.
Army Capt. Paul J. Cassidy, 36, of Laingsburg, MI died in Camp Babylon as a result of non-combat injuries July 13, 2003. He was part of the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion based in Ashwaubenon, Wis., a suburb of Green Bay. Cassidy, a reservist, was in Iraq performing humanitarian services. He also served as department secretary for the Meridian Township clerk's office.
Army Sgt. Trevor A. Blumberg, 22, of Canton Township, MI, a paratrooper, died Sept. 14, 2003, when a roadside bomb hit a convoy and destroyed his Humvee in Fallujah, Iraq. Blumberg was an 82nd Airborne paratrooper with the 1st Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Army Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, 22, of Concord, MI died as a result of the injuries he sustained Oct. 13, 2003, in Tikrit, Iraq, when his unit came under attack from resistance forces. Wheeler was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Army Staff Sgt. Paul J. Johnson, 29, of Calumet, MI was killed when Iraqi fighters ambushed his patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, on Oct. 20, 2003. Johnson served in the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Army Spc. Artimus D. Brassfield, 22, of Flint, MI was killed in a mortar attack at an outpost while fixing a tank on Oct. 24, 2003.
Army Staff Sgt. Mark D. Vasquez, 35, of Port Huron, MI was killed when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle in which he was riding was struck by an improvised explosive device on Nov. 8, 2003. Vasquez was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division based in Fort Riley, Kan.
Army Pfc. Damian S. Bushart, 22, of Waterford Township, MI was killed Nov. 22, 2003, when a tank collided with his vehicle in Baghdad; assigned to A Troop, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division; Armstrong Barracks, Germany.
Army Pfc. Jason G. Wright, 19, of Luzerne, MI was killed Dec. 8, 2003, when his vehicle came under fire while he was providing security at a gas station in northern Iraq. Wright was a mortarman assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. He entered the Army in June 2002 and arrived at Fort Campbell, Ky., the following December.
Army Staff Sgt. Stephen C. Hattamer, 43, of Gwinn, MI was killed December 25, 2003, when his living quarters in Baqouba, Iraq came under mortar attack. He was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, a bridge-building unit based in Harvey. The detachment is a multi-role bridge-building outfit with administrative ties to Ellsworth, Wisconsin.
Army Staff Sgts. Thomas W. Christensen, 42, of Atlantic, MI was killed December 25, 2003, when his living quarters in Baqouba, Iraq came under mortar attack. He was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, a bridge-building unti based in Harvey. The detachment is a multi-role bridge-building outfit with administrative ties to Ellsworth, Wisconsin.
2004 MICHIGAN FALLEN SOLDIERS
Army Pfc. Holly J. McGeogh, 19, of Taylor, MI was among three soldiers killed when a homemade bomb exploded Jan. 31, 2004 along a road near Kirkuk, Iraq, as their convoy passed by. She and the two other soldiers were assigned to Company A, 4th Forward Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas.
Army Spc. Richard K. Trevithick, 20, of Gaines, MI was killed April 14, 2004, when an improvised explosive device exploded near his convoy vehicle in Balad, Iraq. He was part of the 9th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Schweinfurt, Germany.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Bradley C. Fox, 34, who grew up in Adrian, MI, died April 20, 2004, of wounds suffered March 14 when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle. He was serving with the 1st Armored Division.
Army Pfc. Richard H. Rosas, 21, of St. Louis, MI was one of two soldiers killed May 25, 2004, when their patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device in Fallujah, Iraq. He was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), based in Fort Drum, N.Y.
Army Sgt. Aaron Elandt, 23, of Port Hope, MI died May 30, 2004, when the Humvee he was in struck a land mine while responding to a mortar attack. Elandt was a cavalry scout with the first armored division and had been in Iraq for about 14 months.
Army Spc. Craig S. Frank, 24, of Lincoln Park, MI, a Michigan National Guard military police officer, died July 17, 2004, after his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Baghdad. Frank was serving with the 1775th Military Police Company out of Pontiac. He was studying education at Eastern Michigan University before his call-up.Frank was posthumously promoted to Sergeant on July 21, 2004.
Army Sgt. 1st Class David A. Hartman, 41, of Akron, MI died July 17, 2004 in Beiji after the vehicle he was driving was hit by an improvised explosive device. Hartman was assigned to the Army Reserve's 401st Transportation Company out of Battle Creek.
Army Pfc. Nicholas H. Blodgett, 21, of Wyoming, MI died July 21, 2004 in Abdalluyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 4th Cavalry Regiment of the Army's 1st Squadron and stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany. He was killed when his patrol vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.
Spc. Donald R. McCune, 20, of Ypsilanti, MI, died August 5, 2004, in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol on August 4 in Balad, Iraq. mcCune was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Brigade Combat Team, Washington Army National Guard.
Staff Sgt. Donald N. Davis, 42, from Saginaw, MI, died in a vehicle accident when an M915A tractor and an M106A2 tanker-trailer rolled over an embankment in Fallujah, Iraq, on August 24, 2004. Davis was in the 660th Transportation Company, Army Reserve.
Army Sgt. Carl Thomas, 29, died Sept. 13, 2004, in Baghdad when he drove an Army vehicle over a land mine. He was assigned to 1st Calvary Division out of Ft. Hood, Texas. Thomas was born in Detroit and moved to Phoenix during high school.