PFC Tyler Springmann of Hartland, ME
KIA- Kandahar Prov. Afghanistan 17JUL2011



Performing his funeral tomorrow.

Makes me sad everytime I see there is a new post in this thread. My thoughts and prayers out to all who have fallen and their friends and family. I hope I never have to experience hurt and sadness as such but with myself and my younger brother going into the military it is inevitable.

1st Lt. Ryan Iannelli, 27, Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, Marine Air Group 29, 2nd Marine Air Wing, II Marine Expeditionarty Force. Died in a helicopter crash Sept. 28, 2011 in the Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was the nicest person to ever rain hell from the sky. It makes me proud to have worn the same uniform as Ryan.





Semper Fi brother.

Thomas Staral

Served in Iraq together, recently died of cancer at the age of 23. Semper Fi, Marine.

DOD Identifies Marine Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Cpl. Taylor J. Baune, 21, of Andover, Minn., died June 13 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

For more information media may contact the 1st Marine Division Public Affairs Office at 760-725-8766.

DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Niall W. Cotisears, 23, of Arlington, Va., died June 23 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

For more information media may contact the Twentynine Palms Public Affairs Office at 760-830-6213.

Sgt. Mike Knapp
Killed in action 18 May 2012, COP Bostick, Afghanistan.
Sgt. Knapp was my best friend, and a true brother to me during many hard times.

Sgt. Jibraun Knoxx
Killed in action 18 May 2012, COP Bostick, Afghanistan.
One of the first guys I met when I got to this unit. Great guy.

Enemy recoiless rifle hit an ammo bunker. Sympathetic detonation of 155 rounds and powders.

http://www.soc.mil/UNS/Releases/2012/September/120904-01.html

RIP SSgt.

Another fallen from JBLM.
KIA 11/10/12
R.I.P.
Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett, of Glendora, California

53rd Ordnance Company, 3rd Explosives Ordnance Battalion

I know it's long, but very deserving! He was a co-worker and neighbor before he went green-side. I was in attendance for the beautiful memorial.



Sailor killed in CH-53 crash remembered

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — A Pearl Harbor sailor who was killed in a Marine helicopter crash in Iraq last week became a medic because he wanted to help people, his father told mourners at a memorial service on Thursday.

Larry House, of Simi Valley, Calif., said he recently met a Marine at another service who told him that his son had taken care of him and stayed with him after he was wounded during action in Fallujah.

“Doc House took care of me,” the Marine told him.

Hospital Corpsman John Daniel House, 28, and 30 Marines were killed Jan. 26 when their helicopter crashed in a sandstorm in western Iraq. House and 26 of the Marines were based in Hawaii.

House was attached to Company C, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is based at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. He deployed to Iraq in August and was scheduled to return to Hawaii in a few weeks.

Elizabeth House told the 500 people crowded into the Pearl Harbor Memorial Chapel, many of them Navy personnel in uniform, that her brother had a strong love for his family.

“He was my guardian angel. I couldn’t ask for a better big brother,” she said, referring to him as Johnny. “My parents made me, the Navy made me a man, and Melanie made me whole,” she quoted her brother saying.

House’s wife, Melanie, in a statement read to reporters before the service by her father-in-law, said her husband was committed to the Navy.

“John also was a wonderful husband and I know he loved our son,” she said. “Although the two never had a chance to meet, I know John will be with him every day of his life.”

Melanie House gave birth on Christmas Eve. House’s brother, James, carried the infant into the service, and his mother held him during part of the service before he was taken out of the chapel.

Attending the service, in addition to House’s family, were ranking Navy and Marine Corps officials. Also attending was the wife of Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence, of Scotts Valley, Calif., one of the Hawaii-based Marines killed in the crash.

A Marine chaplain earlier said that Melanie House and the young widows of three of the Marines have spent time together since the crash, including prayer meetings.

Despite the image House may have projected with his many tattoos and shaved head, he was a caring and dedicated corpsman, said Capt. Charlie Barker, commander of the Naval Health Clinic Hawaii, to which House was assigned.

“He exemplified honor, courage and duty,” Barker said.

Barker and House’s father and sister also remembered him as someone who loved his guitar and country music. His sister noted that her baby nephew is named James Cash House in tribute to country singer Johnny Cash, a favorite of her brother.

A maile lei-draped Navy portrait of House placed on a table at the front of the chapel was surrounded by his sailor cap, field cap and spit-shined shoes, and was flanked by tall candles. Nearby was a wreath of red, white and blue flowers from the Navy clinic.

The service included the signing of the Navy Hymn, a traditional tolling of a ship bell, and the playing of ‘Taps’. Photos of House’s life were shown on a large television screen at the front of the chapel.

House will be buried at a later date in Simi Valley, family members said.

— Associated Press

Matthew A. Ritz
Died on November 23, 2005 at Fort Benning, Georgia, during airborne school.

I was not a close friend with SFC Ritz. However, we were in the same Active Duty unit and went to Airborne School together. He was a SFC at the time and I was a young Corporal. He had just made the E8 list and was waiting to be pinned and I had just past the E5 board.

The last time I saw SFC Ritz was in the airborne hanger on Lawson Airfield. His stick was just across the aisle from mine. He was doing what all good NCOs should do, supporting his troops. He was walking up and down the benches calming the nerves of his fellow jumpers. That was the second jump of the day for many of us and the first one did not go well. Scores were injured due to high winds on the drop zone. His demonstration of leadership that day had a lasting impression on me. Good leaders are leaders all the time, not just when it is convenient. He could have sat there and done nothing. He had every right to, he was not an instructor. He saw that everyone was nervous and did what he could to support them.

I made my final jump only a few minutes before his. I was the first man out of the plane and ended up hitting the road around the DZ. I was knocked unconscious, suffered a concussion, and a broken nose; but at least I survived. Unfortunately for SFC Ritz, he did not. He died the next day.

Every time I think of my experiences in the Airborne I think of him, and every time I think of him I am reminded of what a good leader looks like. RIP buddy

PFC Evan O'Neill 1-87th INF 10th Mountain DIV KIA 09/29/2003
PFC Adam Thomas 1-87th INF 10th Mountain DIV KIA 08/31/2003
SPC Chad Fuller 1-87th INF 10th Mountain DIV KIA 08/31/2003

"CLIMB TO GLORY"