20 Heroes Fighting in the Afghanistan War Who Died August 16 to September 3, 2012

August 16 - They died in a helicopter crash northeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Killed were:
- Chief Warrant Officer Brian D. Hornsby, 37, of Melbourne, Fla.;
- Chief Warrant Officer Suresh N. A. Krause, 29, of Cathedral City, Calif.;
- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Petty Officer Technician 1st Class Sean P. Carson, 32, of Des Moines, Wash.;
- Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick D. Feeks, 28, of Edgewater, Md.;
- Sgt. Richard A. Essex, 23, of Kelseyville, Calif.;
- Sgt. Luis A. Oliver Galbreath, 41, of San Juan, Puerto Rico; and
- Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class David J. Warsen, 27, of Kentwood, Mich.

August 17 - They died while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan. Killed were:
- Staff Sgt. Gregory T. Copes, 36, of Lynch Station, Va., and
- Hospital Corpsman Petty Officer 1st Class Darrel L. Enos, 36, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
This incident is under investigation.

August 18 - Sgt. David V. Williams, 24, of Frederick, Md., died in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The cause of death is under investigation.

August 19 - Sgt. 1st Class Coater B. Debose, 55, of State Line, Miss., died in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

August 24 - Pfc. Patricia L. Horne, 20, of Greenwood, Miss., died in Bagram, Afghanistan.

August 27 - They died in Kalagush, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered from enemy, small arms fire. [This error has not been corrected on the Department of Defense site. Sgt. Birdwell and Spc. Anders were killed by an Afghan National Army member.] Killed were:
- Sgt. Christopher J. Birdwell, 25, of Windsor, Colo., and

Photo courtesy of Fort Carson

- Spc. Mabry J. Anders, 21, of Baker City, Ore. From the Baker City Herald:

It was 9:35 Monday morning in Laghman Province, Afghanistan, when Baker City’s Mabry J. Anders died.

The Department of Defense on Tuesday confirmed Anders, 21, a U.S. Army specialist, and Sgt. Christopher J. Birdwell, 25, of Windsor, Colo., were killed.

Anders died “after the soldier’s convoy encountered an IED (roadside bomb); he dismounted to patrol the area for secondary devices. He was then engaged with small arms fire by an Afghanistan National Army member. He died of injuries,” according to an Oregon Military Department statement. Birdwell died in the same incident.

Gail Lemberger, Baker High School counselor, remembered Anders as a smart young man with a great sense of humor. He was also eager to join the military, she said. Anders graduated in 2009 from the Baker Alternative School at Haines, although he left many friends at Baker High.

“He already knew he wanted to be in the military, even as a sophomore,” Lemberger said. “He told me, ‘It will be good for me.’ ”

and:

An early statement released by the Department of Defense on Tuesday stated only that Anders was killed from “enemy, small arms fire.”

Yet late Wednesday evening, a statement released by the Oregon Military Department (OMD) amended that: “(Anders) died of multiple wounds received from an Afghanistan National Army soldier.”

Then, a further-revised OMD statement indicated that Anders had in fact been killed “after the soldier’s convoy encountered an IED (roadside bomb); he dismounted to patrol the area for secondary devices. He was then engaged with small arms fire by an Afghanistan National Army member. He died of injuries.”

U.S. Army deputy public affairs officer Martin L. O’Donnell confirmed that the Afghan soldier was killed in return fire.
. . .
Such insider incidents, so-called green-on-green killings, are on the rise.

Newsweek reported Monday that “members and civilian employees of Afghanistan’s security forces had killed no fewer than 40 coalition troops this year — at least 10 of the dead, all of them Americans, in the first three weeks of August alone.

“The count has already passed last year’s total of 35 dead, and it’s reached fully double the figure for all of 2010.”

This is an issue not lost on the troops themselves. Fletcher mentioned how her fiance had grown increasingly paranoid about such attacks; he’d told her about a deadly incident, during a similar patrol, that occurred weeks before his own death.

According to his fiance, Anders was especially concerned about former Taliban members being trained on the U.S. base — which he said could have led to information leaks facilitating attacks at vulnerable times and locations.
[emphasis added]

- The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sgt. Jessica M. Wing, 42, of Alexandria, Va., died Aug. 27, in Kuwait City, Kuwait in a non-combat related incident.

August 28 - Pfc. Shane W. Cantu, 20, of Corunna, Mich., died in Charkh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was hit by shrapnel.

September 1 - They died in Batur Village, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with small arms fire. Killed were:
- Staff Sgt. Jeremie S. Border, 28, of Mesquite, Texas; and
- Staff Sgt. Jonathan P. Schmidt, 28, of Petersburg, Va.

September 2 - Spc. Kyle R. Rookey, 23, of Oswego, N.Y., died in Jalalabad, Afghanistan from a non-combat related incident. 

September 3 - Lance Cpl. Alec R. Terwiske, 21, of Dubois, Ind., died while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.