Tonight, we honor five soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Five young children will never see their dad's again. Two of the soldiers killed were involved in an insurgent attack, which seriously injured others, including a fellow Kossack's nephew. Her nephew is now in Germany getting medical treatment, please read about him here.
Since 2001, there have been 1980 American troops killed in Afghanistan. Since January 1, 2012 there have been 116 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan. Please take a moment to honor their sacrifice.
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.
DoD Announces Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died May 18, in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an indirect fire. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 377th Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Killed were:
Sgt. Michael J. Knapp, 28, of Overland Park, Kan., and
Sgt. Jabraun S. Knox, 23, of Fort Wayne, Ind.
On Friday morning, Abby Knapp's parents listened to the morning news and heard about two soldiers killed in eastern Afghanistan. A moment later, they looked out the window and saw two soldiers getting out of the car and walking towards their door. From news channel
KCTV-5:
Knapp's wife, Abby, and their newborn daughter had recently moved back to Kansas from the Northwest as Knapp was serving his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. The family was anticipating a brief, but long-awaited, reunion when Knapp would return home for a two-week vacation. But Friday morning, his in-laws received the grim news that two servicemen were killed in Afghanistan.
Brassfield's wife heard a news report and then saw two military personnel walking up to the house.
"She called me immediately and said ‘please come home quickly,' and I just ran out the door," Brassfield said.
Sgt. Michael Knapp was due home in three days to be with his 9 month old daughter, wife and in-laws. The last time he saw his daughter, Miss Kinsley, was when she was born premature at nine weeks early and weighing just 6 pounds. He watched his daughter flourish and grow via Skype. From his obituary:
Mike could not wait to be a father and loved Miss Kinsley so much.
Sgt. Michael Knapp joined the Army in 2003. He served four tours of duty: Kosova, two tours in Iraq, and in October, 2011 he deployed for Afghanistan. He loved serving his country and loved the military.
Sgt. Knapp earned the following awards and decorations: a Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart, 3 Army Commendation Medals, 2 Army Achievement Medals, an Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, 3 Iraq Campaign Medals with Bronze Stars, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, 2 Armed Forces Reserve Medals with M Device, Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, 3 Overseas Service Ribbons, 2 NATO Medals Kosovo, Combat Action Badge, 4 Overseas Service Bars, and a Louisiana Emergency Service Ribbon and Medal.
Sgt. Jabroun Knox was killed in northeastern Afghanistan by enemy fire. He had just returned to Afghanistan after a visit home in April.
Knox was 2007 graduate of Dekalb High School. He served a tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. After this tour was over, Knox planned to leave the Army and become a fireman, just like his father, who is a Captain with Auburn Fire Department.
Fire Chief Max Van Ziel told the WANE.com:
It's amazing when things do happen how the guys come together. This family that he has away from his home comes together and we're going to be there for him," Auburn Fire Chief Mark VanZile said.
His father was proud of his son, Chief Van Zile said:
"His dad was very excited about that. We talked about maybe his career after the military about being a police officer. So we thought well we want him to be a fire fighter."
The town and Mayor of Auburn will honor Sgt. Jabraun Knox this Memorial Day. Sgt. Knox leaves behind a 6 month old son, wife, and parents. Deepest condolences to their family and community.
DoD Announces Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died May 20, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 168th Brigade Support Battalion, 214th Fires Brigade, Fort Sill, Okla.
Killed were:
Capt. Jesse A. Ozbat, 28, of, Prince George, Va., and
2nd Lt. Tobias C. Alexander, 30, of Lawton, Okla.
Captain Jesse Ozbat was a 2006 graduate of Virginia State University with a degree in mathematics. Ozbat joined the Army after graduation form college. He served in Afghanistan in 2009 for 15 months, and had arrived about a month ago for the second time.
He was on his second tour of duty, when he and 2nd Lt. Tobias Alexander were killed by an IED explosion. The explosion also caused life-threatening injuries to a fellow Kossack, "Former Chicagoan now Angeleno" nephew. Diary here: My nephew is on life support in Kandahar.
Captain Ozbat was married. The couple lived near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he had been stationed before deployment to Afghanistan.
Rest in Peace, Capt. Jesse Ozbat.
2nd Lt. Tobias Alexander is survived by a wife and three children. He graduated from Elgin High School in 1999 and attended Cameron University. This information came from Facebook and as more comes available, I will update.
DoD Announces Army Casualty
Spc. Samuel T. Watts, 20, of Wheaton, Ill., died May 19, in Bethesda, Md., of wounds sustained April 25, in Zharay, Afghanistan, when he was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
Watts was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Spc. Samuel Watts joined the Army right after graduation in 2010 from Wheaton North High School. Guidance counselor, Wendy Biggs, told the
Triblocal.com:
“He just wanted to serve,” his guidance counselor Wendy Biggs said. “He was just really proud of our country. He just wanted to help people, and that was the way he felt he could best help.”
“This was a kid who was going to serve his country and no matter what he did whether paramedic or fireman he was going to be a good adult and he would have been a good neighbor,” Biggs said. “Somebody you wanted to have in your community.”
Watts died almost a month after an IED explosion injured him. Visitation will be on Tuesday, May 29th.
Spc. Samuel Watts earned the following awards and decorations: the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Parachutist Badge.
Rest in Peace, Spc. Samuel Watts.
In Flanders Fields
by Lt. Col. John McRae, MD, (1872-1918)
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved,
and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Monkeybiz, Noweasels, Blue Jersey Mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Maggie Jean, Jax Dem, Kestrel 9000, TheFatLadySings, Ekaterina, and me, Sandy on Signal.
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.