Plain Dealer (Cleveland) January 16, 2005
A year in the face of death
By Elizabeth Sullivan
It's painful to contemplate at an individual level the bravery, dedication and loss to the nation in the nearly 900 U.S. military personnel who died in Iraq and Afghanistan last year. On the virtual Wall that the World Wide Web has become, the images wash over you in waves.
Below, we tell the stories of 12 Americans who died last year, one for each month. These randomly selected soldiers and Marines were not necessarily more worthy than others. Their stories reflect the extraordinary qualities to be found in each of the narratives of our fallen. More on the pictures of loss, 2004. H5
Elizabeth Sullivan Foreign Affairs Columnist More from Elizabeth Sullivan on the pictures of loss, 2004. H5
JANUARY
Army Staff Sgt. Lester Kinney II, 27
Hometown: Zanesville, Ohio.
A roadside bomb near Iskandariyah, Iraq, killed Kinney and two other 82nd Airborne paratroopers as they investigated a suspicious object during nighttime patrol. A fourth soldier lost a leg.
Loved Halloween pranks and Johnny Cash. Joined Army in 1996, two years out of high school. Spent most of 2003 in Afghanistan. His half-brother, Kurtis Bennett, was deployed to Iraq in October.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 56
FEBRUARY
Army Pfc. Nichole Frye, 19
Hometown: Lena, Wis.
A bomb detonated by cell phone killed Frye and injured four other Army Reserve Civil Affairs soldiers riding in a Humvee to deliver food and water to residents of Baqouba, Iraq.
Small-town waitress who joined Army Reserves in 2002 to help pay for college, Frye loved helping people. After she died, grateful Iraqis found and returned home her rosary.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 78
MARCH
Army Spc. Jocelyn Carrasquillo, 28
Hometown: Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
Killed by homemade bomb first day in Iraq while traveling in passenger seat of truck as part of North Carolina National Guard convoy.
An avid dancer and community volunteer. Joined Army Reserves in 1997, later transfering to Guard, to help pay for occupational therapy classes. Twin brother Ronald was serving in Iraq with Army Reserves when his brother died.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 131
APRIL
Army Sgt. Yihjyh L. Chen, 31
Hometown: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
A roof gunner on a Humvee, one of eight U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad firefight with militia of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al- Sadr.
Known as "Eddie." Former police officer. Joined Army in 2000 and planned to go to law school, but his enlistment was involuntarily extended, relatives told the Associated Press. Fellow soldiers said he became a U.S. citizen just months before his death.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 267
MAY
Army Spc. Ervin Caradine Jr., 33
Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Homemade grenade overturned Caradine's Humvee in Baghdad, killing him and another soldier from the 1st Cavalry Division.
Known for his sense of humor and devotion to family. Married high-school sweetheart and managed restaurant before joining Army in 1996 to earn better income for his four kids. Expressed concern in final phone calls home about the worsening security in Iraq.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 355
JUNE
Army Staff Sgt. Chuck Kiser, 37
Hometown: Cleveland, Wis.
One of two reservist MPs who died in Mosul, Iraq, trying to stop a suicide bomber from detonating his explosives inside a training facility for Iraqi police cadets. The truck blew up 30 feet from the men's rooftop position.
Grew up near Cincinnati. Spent 14 years with Navy and Naval Reserves before switching to Army Reserves to be nearer to his Cleveland, Wis., home. Worked at an auto parts firm. Left two children.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 402
JULY
Army Spc. Ken Leisten, 20
Hometown: Cornelius, Ore.
Driving an armored Humvee didn't save Leisten from a roadside bomb as he patrolled the roads west of his Oregon National Guard unit's camp near Taji, Iraq.
A bright guy who hoped to parlay his military service into a computer degree. Volunteered for Iraq, where he once shared his water with Iraqi kids. His mother, whom he hadn't seen since he was 2, learned of his whereabouts only from the TV news of his death.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 458
AUGUST
Marine Sgt. Juan Calderon Jr., 26
Hometown: Weslaco, Tex.
Calderon and a second Marine died from an explosion outside Fallujah. The Marine Corps says only that they died because of "enemy action."
The son of a plumber, Calderon joined the Marines right out of high school in 1997 and was promoted to sergeant five years later. He was a Dallas Cowboys fan and loved eating menudo. His wife, Ana, was eight months pregnant with the couple's first child when he died.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 526
SEPTEMBER
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Goodwin, 35
Hometown: Albany, Ga.
Ambushed in southeast Afghanistan by a large force of suspected Taliban firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on their patrol near Shkin. Goodwin and a second Special Forces soldier were killed.
Goodwin was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and also was a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He'd been in the Army 16 years. Friends said he was dedicated to two things: the military and his 11-year-old son, Matthew.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 611
OCTOBER
Army Spc. Christopher Merville, 26
Hometown: Albuquerque , N.M.
Fatally wounded in a Humvee during combat in Baghdad.
Loved dogs, history books, playing with his little brother and exploring old battlefields. Spoke German fluently. Decided to join the military after 9/11, and had to work for months to get in shape. Became engaged to a Filipino woman while stationed in South Korea, before his infantry unit was shifted to Iraq. She met his family only after his death.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 679
NOVEMBER
Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel, 29
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Despite a shrapnel wound, Gavriel volunteered to fill out the ranks for the U.S.-led assault on Fallujah, dying during intense house-to-house fighting.
It seems a long way from Wall Street to Iraq. But Gavriel, a New Hampshire champion wrestler and Brown University grad, lost two good friends in the World Trade Center collapse. By 2003, he was in Marine boot camp.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 823
DECEMBER
Marine Cpl. Ian Stewart, 21
Hometown: Lake Hughes, Calif.
Stewart was reportedly killed by small-arms fire while clearing houses in Fallujah. He was one of eight Marines to die on the same day.
Crazy about cars, Stewart had thought of becoming a firefighter. But his faith and interest in seeing the world drew him to the military, say friends in the canyon town where his dad manages a Christian retreat. He joined the Marines after high school.
KILLED, YEAR TO DATE: 896
GRAPHIC: PHOTOGRAPHS ARE FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND PLAIN DEALER FILE PHOTOGRAPHS. SOURCES USED FOR TEXT: Associated Press, Department of Defense, NBC NEWS, ZANESVILLE TIMES-RECORDER, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER, WILMINGTON (N.C.) STAR NEWS, WASHINGTON POST, MEMPHIS (TENN.) COMMERCIAL APPEAL, SHEBOYGAN (WISC.) PRESS, THE OREGONIAN, SAN ANTONIO (TEX.) EXPRESS-NEWS, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, ALBUQUERQUE TRIBUNE, BOSTON GLOBE, BOSTON HERALD, NEW YORK OBSERVER, NEWSDAY, LOS ANGELES TIMES. SOURCES FOR MONTHLY CASUALTY FIGURES: Department of Defense, www.militarycity.com/valor/honor.html, icasualties.org/oif/, www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm
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