On Friday, the Department of Defense announced:
the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device Sept. 8 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Killed were:
Spc. Koran P. Contreras, 21, of Lawndale, Calif.
Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr., 20, of Springville, Calif.
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Spc. Koran Contreras's Facebook page indicates that he graduated from Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, CA in 2007. He joined the Army in April of 2008 and received his training at Fort Benning in Georgia. He was then assigned to Fort Hood in Texas. Spc. Contreras completed a tour of duty in Iraq between January and December of 2009. He arrived at Fort Drum in April of 2010 and was Deployed to Afghanistan in March of this year.
Koran Contreras was a heavily decorated soldier. In addition to the Purple Heart that he earned in Iraq, he was also awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Contreras is survived by his wife and his mother.
~source ~source
Thank you, Spc. Koran Contreras, for your selfless service to our nation. Our prayers are for your wide and mother. RIP
Private 1st Class Douglas J. Jeffries Jr. graduated from Porterville High School in 2009 and joined the Army in November of that year. He wanted to become a forestry firefighter, and he hoped that military service would help him fulfill that dream.
His high school friends and a former teacher describe Jeffries as a hard worker who was also fun loving and friendly.
"He was just a really good all-around guy," [high school friend Carl] Bushnell said. "He was outgoing, funny and always had something good to say about people."
In high school, Jeffries played bass guitar in a rock 'n' roll band with Bushnell and other friends. ~source
Jeffries was also active in the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program.
As a senior, he was on the team that won Tulare County FFA's ag finance competition, qualifying him to receive the American FFA Degree.
He will be recognized for earning that degree posthumously at the National FFA Convention in October in Indianapolis, Coons said.~source
His high school principal, Connie Owens, said:
It takes a special kind of individual to serve his country and I believe he was that kind of individual. ~source
Douglas Jeffries' friends report that he was engaged to be married to a woman he met in New York. He is also survived by his mother, Evelyn Jeffries of Las Vegas, and his father, Doug Jeffries of Springville.
Thank you, Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr., for your service to our country. We will keep your fiancee and your parents in our thoughts and prayers. May you rest in eternal peace.
Poppies are the universal symbols of remembrance. May we never forget the sacrifices that these two men made for our country.
The purpose of the I Got the News Today series is to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in KY, maggiejean, racheltracks, and Jax Dem.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.