Drum ceremony to honor six soldiers killed in Afghanistan

FORT DRUM — Six soldiers who were killed in combat while serving in Afghanistan will be remembered today in a ceremony at Memorial Park.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team soldiers died between July 20 and 31. Since July 31, four other 3rd Brigade soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. Those soldiers will be honored in a memorial ceremony at the end of September.

Sgt. Gregory Owens Jr., 24; Spc. Dennis J. Pratt, 34; Spc. Andrew J. Roughton, 21; Spc. Justin D. Coleman, 21; Spc. Alexander J. Miller, 21, and Pfc. Anthony M. Lightfoot, 20, will be honored at 4:30 p.m. today.

Sgt. Owens, Spc. Pratt, Spc. Roughton and Pfc. Lightfoot were killed in an improvised explosive device attack July 20. The IED attack was followed by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades and happened in Wardak Province. The four soldiers were with the 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery.

Spc. Coleman died July 24 when his unit was attacked with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades in Nuristan Province. He was with the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.

Spc. Miller was killed July 31 in a small arms attack in Nuristan Province. He was also with the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.

The four 3rd Brigade soldiers killed since the beginning of August are Sgt. Jerry R. Evans, 23, with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment; Spc. Matthew K.S. Swanson, 20, with the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion; Spc. Justin R. Pellerin, 21, with 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, and Pfc. Brian M. Wolverton, 21, with 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.

The 3rd Brigade deployed to Afghanistan in January and will return in December and January. Since deploying, 22 soldiers have been killed. These soldiers make up 7.5 percent of the 297 soldiers who have died in Afghanistan in 2009 as of Wednesday, making this the deadliest year for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion.