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Soldiers Fallen Page:
Baquba, Iraq
Final Roll Call was held today for five soldiers killed near Baquba on 24 January 2005. The soldiers were conducting
combat operations in support of Iraqi elections when their Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled into a canal. The accident occurred
after erosion caused a dirt road to collapse under the weight of the vehicle. Two other soldiers were injured. While hundreds of soldiers assembled for the memorial, at least six
helicopters kicked up dust nearby. Major General Batiste and other senior officers, and NCOs from the 1st Infantry Division,
landed to pay final respects.
Soldiers fallen: Specialist Jesus Leon-Perez:
born
1984 in Mexico, raised in Texas Specialist
Viktar Yolkin:
born 1980 in Ukraine, raised in Belarus, lived in Texas Sergeant Javier Marin, Jr.: born 1976 in Michigan, raised
in Texas Sergeant Michael Carlson:born 1982 in
Wisconsin, raised in Minnesota Staff
Sergeant Joseph Stevens:born 1978 in Massachusetts
The soldiers were members of Alpha Company, Task
Force 82nd Engineer, 1st Infantry Division.
First Sergeant Christopher C. Rafferty
18 November 1968 - 20 July 2006
First Sergeant Christopher Conrad Rafferty was born in Defiance, Ohio on 18 November 1968. He
joined the United States Army on 12 September 1988 as a Combat Engineer. First Sergeant Rafferty completed his Initial Entry
Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
First Sergeant Rafferty was assigned to A Company, 3rd Engineer Battalion, Fort
Stewart, Georgia on 13 January 1989 where he served as a Combat Engineer. From there he was assigned to the 59th Engineer
Company, Fort Clayton, Panama on 28 June 1990 where he served as a Team Leader: from this assignment he volunteered to serve
as an individual augmentee in Operation Desert Storm. On 10 June 1994, 1SG Rafferty was assigned to B Company, 37th Engineer
Battalion (Combat)(Airborne), 20th Engineer (Combat)(Airborne Corps), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He served a Squad Leader,
Operations Sergeant, and Platoon Sergeant before moving to B Company, 35th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood,
Missouri on 10 November 1998. He served as a Platoon Sergeant for 11 months before moving taking over the Senior Drill Sergeant
position on 1 October 1999. On 1 May 2000, First Sergeant Rafferty was assigned to D Company, 35th Engineer Battalion, 1st
Brigade to continue as a Senior Drill Sergeant. He was later assigned to B Company,
82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division , Warner Barracks, Germany where he served as an
Operations Sergeant and Platoon Sergeant; he moved to A Company as First Sergeant and deployed
with them to Kosovo from November 2002 to May 2003 and Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. After his tour in Germany,
Fisrt Sergeant Rafferty rejoined the 37th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg on 4 August 2005. He was assigned
as the First Sergeant for C Company, 37th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade(Combat)(Airborne Corps)
and took the company to Afghanistan.
First Sergeant Rafferty's military education includes: Combat Life Savers Course,
1990; Warrior Leader Course, 1991; Sapper Leader Course, 1992; Basic Airborne School, 1994; Basic Noncommissioned Officer
Course, 1994; Jumpmaser School, 1994; Air Assault School, 1995; Drill Sergeant School, 1998; Advanced Noncommisioned Officer
Course, 1999; Battle Staff Course, 2003.
First Sergeant Rafferty's awards and decorations include: Bronze Star Medal with
Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster,
Army Achievment Medal with two Silver Clusters, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Superior Unit Award, five Good Conduct
Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, Armed Forces Expiditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Service
Star, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, three Noncommessioned Officer Professional Develpment Ribbons, Army
Service Riboon, Oversees Service Ribbon, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), NATO Medal,
Global War On Terrorism Expiditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Drill Sergeant
Badge, Combat Action Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Sapper Tab, the Bronze Order of the DeFluery Medal,
and a meber of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club.
Outside of the Army, First Sergeant Rafferty was an avid golfer and fan
of the Pittsburg Steelers. Above all, he loved his family. He is survived by his wife Wendy and daughters Samantha (13) and
Kayla (9).
Spc. Isaac Michael Nieves
Age:
20
Hometown: Unadilla, N.Y.
Unit: Army's 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, Bamberg, Germany.
Circumstances:
Died April 8, in Bani Saad, Iraq, when individuals using an improvised explosive devise and small arms fire attacked his combat
patrol.
SPC Isaac Nieves was born in Brooklyn, New York on 05 October 1983. He began his active duty services with the
United States Army on 10 August 2001. SPC Nieves attended Basic Training and Advance Individual Training (AIT)
at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he received the Military Occupational Skill (MOS) 21B (Combat Engineer). SPC Nieves
arrived to the unit on 16 December 2001, where he was assigned to 3rd Platoon, A/82nd Engineer Battalion as a Sapper and Saw
Gunner. From October 2002 to July 2003 SPC Nieves deployed with
Alpha Company to Kosovo in support of Operation Joint Guardian. In recognition of his outstanding duty performance he
was awarded the Army Achievement Medal. During February 2004
SPC Nieves deployed with Alpha Company to Iraq in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom II.
SPC Nieves is being posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Other awards include the Army Achievement Medal (1OLC), Kosovo Campaign Ribbon, NATO Ribbon, the Global
War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, and the
Army Service Ribbon.
SPC
Nieves is survived by his wife and his parents of Unadilla, New York.
Charles J. Webb
Sergeant, United States Army
Sgt. Charles J. Webb, 22, of Hamilton, Ohio died Nov. 3 in the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad,
Iraq, from wounds sustained earlier that day when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad, Iraq. Webb was
assigned to the 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Bamberg, Germany.
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Michael
Curtis Carlson |
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NO PHOTO
Carlson, Michael Curtis
- Sergeant, U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division Feb. 14, 1982-Jan. 24, 2005 Sergeant Michael C. Carlson died on Jan. 24, 2005
in Iraq serving his country and fighting for freedom. Michael Carlson is survived by his parents, Daniel and Merrilee Carlson
(Bedbury); brother Daniel Carlson; grandfather Harry Carlson, the love of his life, Crystal Beck; other relatives, friends,
classmates and fellow soldiers and patriots. He was preceded in death by his grandparents Myrl & Elsie Bedbury and Nadine
Carlson. Michael was born in Spooner, Wisconsin and attended Webster Elementary until 1990 when the family moved to St. Paul.
He attended East Consolidated, Farnsworth, Cleveland Jr. High, and Cretin-Derham Hall (Class of 2000) and Concordia University.
St. Paul. Michael participated in Boy Scout Troop 42, learned to play football at the L.E.S. program on the East Side of St.
Paul, wrestled at Cleveland and Cretin and played football at Cretin. He also played handbells at Arlington Hills Lutheran
Church. Michael chose to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 19, 2001, as an infantryman. Boot Camp was
at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He was then assigned to the 1st ID, 2-2, A Company at Vilseck Germany. During 2003 his Unit spent
6 months in Kosovo. In February 2004, Michael's Unit was deployed to Iraq where he was attached to the 82nd
Engineering Battalion. The family would enjoy receiving the 'Michael stories' from friends.
These may be sent to sgtmichaelcarlson@gmail.com. |
Sergeant First Class Paul
R. Smith: Medal of Honor: global war on terrorism!
NO PHOTO
SFC Paul Ray Smith :Unit: Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry
Division :Spouse: Birgit Smith :Children: David A. Smith, Jessica M. Smith :Parents: Donald and Janice Puirre :Hometown: Tampa,
Fla. :Enlisted: October 1989 :MOS: Combat engineer
Assignments: 82nd Engineer
Battalion (Bamberg, Germany), 1st Engr. Bn. (Fort Riley, Kan.), 317th Engr. Bn. (Fort Benning, Ga.), 9th Engr. Bn.
(Schweinfurt, Germany), 11th Engr. Bn. (Fort Stewart, Ga.)
Deployments: Persian Gulf War, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Operation Iraqi
Freedom O n April 4, 2003, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, attacked to seize Objective Lions, the Baghdad
International Airport. As part of the maneuver, Task Force 2-7 was ordered to establish a blocking position against a brigade-sized
counterattack at the airfield's main entrance. The main entrance was a four-lane highway with a median
to separate incoming and outgoing traffic. Large masonry walls with towers approximately 100 meters apart bound the highway.
With Smith in charge, Co. B received the mission to construct a holding area for prisoners of war. Assessing the best location
to be behind the masonry wall, Smith ordered a hole knocked through it to create an opening to a large
courtyard. He then checked for enemy, found none, and posted two guards on towers along the wall.While
engineers cleared debris in the courtyard, a guard spotted 10 to 15 enemy soldiers moving into prepared fighting positions.
The enemy eventually rose to 100 soldiers and pinned down Smith's unit. Rather
than withdraw from his objective, Smith led Soldiers to engage the enemy force with grenades, an antitank missile launcher
and individual weapons. As the enemy attack reached its strongest point and the American defenders continued to suffer casualties,
Smith climbed aboard a damaged armored vehicle and, under intense fire, managed to get a .50-caliber machine gun working.
He provided cover fire while the wounded were evacuated and held his position until he was killed.
Smith died while saving many others.
"We count ourselves blessed to have Soldiers like Sgt. Smith, who put their lives on the line to advance the cause of freedom
and protect the American people."
President George W. Bush
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