Fort Drum will host memorial
FORT DRUM — Since May 15, a total of 17 soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twelve of them, along with one soldier who died in a car accident, will be remembered during a ceremony on post at 4:30 p.m. today.
Eleven of the 10th Division soldiers were killed in Afghanistan and were members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. One soldier from the 3rd Brigade died in a car accident while on leave from the combat zone and one 10th Combat Aviation Brigade soldier died in Iraq.
The 3rd Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in January and has lost 17 soldiers in seven months — five soldiers were killed in the last week alone. Those soldiers represent 7.5 percent of the total 226 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan this year.
As of Wednesday, there were 756 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan — 9.5 percent, or 72 soldiers, were from the 10th Division. Of the 4,328 U.S. service members killed in Iraq, 2.9 percent, or 126, were soldiers with the 10th.
The soldiers killed in Afghanistan being honored today are Staff Sgt. Esau I. Delapena Hernandez, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey A. Hall, Staff Sgt. Eric J. Lindstrom, Sgt. Carlie M. Lee III, Sgt. Terry J. Lynch, Sgt. Jasper K. Obakrairur, Spc. Joshua R. Farris, Spc. Rodridgo A. Munguia Rivas, Pfc. Peter K. Cross, Pfc. Matthew D. Ogden and Pfc. Matthew W. Wilson. Also being remembered from the 3rd Brigade is Spc. Israel Saucedo, and Spc. Marko M. Samson from the Aviation Brigade.
Sgt. Delapena Hernandez, 25, and Sgt. Lee, 23, died May 15 during a patrol in Chak, Afghanistan. Spc. Samson, 30, died May 31 in Tikrit, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries.
Sgt. Hall, 28; Sgt. Obakrairur, 26; Pfc. Ogden, 33, and Pfc. Wilson, 19, died June 1 after a roadside bombing. Spc. Saucedo, 21, died June 6 in Texas in a car accident. Spc. Munguia Rivas, 27, died June 21 in Bagram, Afghanistan, during an indirect fire attack.
Pfc. Cross, 20, died June 26 at Combat Outpost Carwile, Afghanistan, after his vehicle rolled over. Sgt. Lynch, 22, died June 29 in Nerkh, Afghanistan, after a roadside bombing. Spc. Farris, 22, died July 9 following an improvised explosive device attack. Spc. Lindstrom, 27, died July 12 in Barge Matal, Afghanistan, following an indirect fire attack.
The remembrance ceremony for the soldiers will be at Memorial Park, across from the Division Headquarters building. The five soldiers with the 3rd Brigade who have died in the last week will be honored in a memorial service in August.
Those soldiers are Sgt. Gregory Owens Jr., 24; Spc. Anthony M. Lightfoot, 20; Spc. Justin D. Coleman, 21; Spc. Andrew J. Roughton, 21, and Pfc. Dennis J. Pratt, 34.
