Since 2001, 1995 U.S. troops have died while serving in Afghanistan, and since 2003, 4486 U.S. troops have died while serving in Iraq.
The IGTNT (I Got The News Today) series is a reminder that nearly every day, somebody gets the heartbreaking news that a friend, former classmate, or beloved family member will not be coming home from war.
Tonight we remember a paratrooper and
a K-9 handler, both husbands and fathers,
who died while serving in Afghanistan:
Cpl. Nicholas H. Olivas, 20, of Fairfield, Ohio
Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean E. Brazas, 26, of Greensboro, North Carolina
Please take a moment below to remember them,
and all those who have lost their lives in these wars.
The Department of Defense announced the death of a soldier:
Cpl. Nicholas H. Olivas, 20, of Fairfield, Ohio
Cpl. Olivas died May 30 in Zharay, Afghanistan, from injuries from an IED detonation. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Nicholas Olivas grew up fishing and hunting, and enjoying his quiet time in the woods near Hamilton, Ohio. He was youngest of four children, with three sisters, and was on his high school wrestling team. He learned about service from his parents, his father was the long-time mayor and his mother a Butler County Sheriff's Deputy.
“He was in the last wave of soldiers who were trained as interpreters.....
“He was up for that job and he excelled at that job.”
“Deep inside he viewed himself as a protector,” his father Adolfo said in the Fairfield Echo.
Nicholas joined the Army in 2010 shortly after graduating from Fairfield High School.
Last year he married fellow Fairfield graduate, Faith. The young couple welcomed a baby named Connor in January, before he left on his first tour.
Cpl. Olivas deployed to Afghanistan in February 2012, and received the Combat Infantryman Badge in April. The Army awarded Cpl. Olivas the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals, among other decorations.
Fayetteville Observer
Among those Cpl. Olivas leaves behind are his wife and baby son, his mother, his father and stepmother, his sisters and his friends back home.
Cpl. Nicholas Olivas is missed. May he rest in peace.
The Department of Defense announced the death of a sailor:
Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean E. Brazas, 26, of Greensboro, North Carolina
Petty Officer 2nd Class Brazas died May 30 during combat operations in Panjwa’l, Afghanistan. He worked with a K-9 partner named Sicario in a bomb-detection unit assigned to Naval Base Kitsap Security Detachment in Bremerton, Washington.
Sean Brazas graduated from Western Guilford High School and briefly took classes at Guilford Technical Community College. He comes from a military family, and decided to join.
“He sat around one day and said ‘I want to do more with my life than party and drink on the weekends, so I’ll join the Navy,’” his father Ed Brazas said in the Greensboro News & Record.
PO2 Brazas was stationed in Crete and then Guam for three years. His family said he had always loved dogs and began working with bomb-sniffing military dogs.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Brazas was married, and the couple lived in Seattle with their 13-month old daughter.
PO2 Brazas arrived in Afghanistan on May 1, on his 26th birthday.
“’If something happens to me, just remember I want to make things safe for you and Mom and Kelly (Sean’s sister),’” Ed Brazas recalled his son saying.
Less than a month later, PO2 Brazas was shot and killed while helping a fellow officer get into a helicopter during an ambush. His K-9 partner was not injured in the attack, but was treated from heat stress.
WFMY News spoke with Brazas' father who said his family is numb, just absolutely numb. The news has hit them hard.
Among those Petty Officer 2nd Class Brazas leaves behind are his wife and 13-month old daughter, his parents and sister, and his dog Sicario.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean E. Brazas is missed. May he rest in peace.
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Thanks to Timroff for our faithfully lighted candle IGTNT logo;
Other Photos by CalNM and linked Sources
Helping our troops: If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, or sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com. Fisher House provides housing for families of injured troops and veterans who are recovering in hospitals, and Guardian angels for soldierspet assists the animal companions of our deployed military.
When our veterans come back home, they can find support at Welcome Back Veterans. Our recently returned veterans need jobs, and Veterans Green Jobs is now hiring for positions and filling training sessions. VGJ corps retrains veterans as leaders in forest and resource conservation, green construction, and energy efficient upgrades of homes in rural areas. Encourage a Veteran, and see if you can help out.
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About the IGTNT series: I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect, and remember the fallen, and to remind us that each casualty has family and friends who received the terrible news that their loved one has died at war. 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. The US Department of Defense news releases are found at defense gov/releases. Icasualties lists the names of those killed, and shows the number of wounded. Published AP photos of the returning war fatalities are found on the Dover AFB page. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries in the series which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, Proud Mom and Grandma, Sandy on Signal, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Ms Wings, maggiejean, JaxDem, theFatLadySings, Ekaterin, and me, CalNM. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died, and show our community’s respect for our fallen brothers and sisters.
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.