U.S. Casualties Span Sixty Years and Four Wars

Americans in this report died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, and at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Korean and Vietnam.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - When we publish casualty reports, something always stands out about the individuals we lose in the wars overseas. In each report we learn what services they represent, and which states or territories are seeing the biggest losses, etc.

It is always sad and often surprising who we lose. What I find most unique about this group of people, is the diversity of their backgrounds and the number of places and ways they were lost, and also the number of conflicts uniquely represented.

In the same space of time that casualties are reported in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, and at sea in the Arabian Gulf, we also receive word that the U.S. government has officially recovered and identified a U.S. soldier missing from the Korean War, and four Army aviators missing since their Huey helicopter disappeared during the Vietnam War.

Two members of the U.S. Air Force were lost in an Osprey crash. We haven't heard too much about the Osprey lately. This unique cross between a helicopter and fixed wing plane was more known in its development years, which were very expensive in terms of cost and loss of Marine lives. I flew in one of these in Iraq and I can tell you that there is nothing stranger than taking off from a combat zone in one of these. I am sorry to hear of this loss involving the model flown by the U.S. Air Force.

One soldier died in Kenya; he was from Puerto Rico, an American territory that has been supplying forces for the wars all along. Little is covered with regard to the U.S. role in Africa, as it is greatly overshadowed by the war in Afghanistan, and the fact that mainstream media is preoccupied with reporting entertainment news.

These are just some of the unique attributes associated with this group of Americans who are no longer among the living, yet very much alive in the memories of those who knew and loved them.

The Losses

U.S. Air Force Major Randell D. Voas, 43, of Lakeville, Minnesota, died 9 April near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a CV-22 Osprey crash that also claimed the life of Air Force Senior Master Sergeant James B. Lackey. The Osprey is an extremely unique aircraft capable of vertical take off and landing ability.

Randell Voas was assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant James B. Lackey, 45, of Green Clove Springs, Florida, died in a CV-22 Osprey crash near Kandahar, Afghanistan 9 April. This crash that also claimed the life of Air Force Major Randell Voas.

James Lackey was assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida.

U.S. Army Sergeant Roberto E. Diaz Borio, 47, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, died 8 April in Mombassa, Kenya. The circumstances of his death are under investigation.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Cayay, Puerto Rico.

1st Lieutenant Robert W. Collins, 24, of Tyrone, Georgia, died 7 April in Mosul, Iraq, when his vehicle was attacked by enemy forces with a roadside bomb. The attack also claimed the life of Private first-class William A. Blount.

Robert W. Collins was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

Private first-class William A. Blount, 21, of Petal, Mississippi, died 7 April in Mosul, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. 1st Lieutenant Robert Collins also died in the attack,

William Blount was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Fort Stewart, Georgia.

U.S. Army Sergeant Kurt E. Kruize, 35, of Hancock, Minnesota, died 4 April in Baghdad, Iraq of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident.

Kurt Kruize was assigned to the 367th Engineer Battalion, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Curtis M. Swenson, 20, of Rochester, Minnesota, died 2 April while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Curtis M. Swenson was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Scott W. Brunkhorst, 25, Fayetteville, North Carolina, died 30 March in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Scott Brunkhorst was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Tyler O. Griffin, 19, of Voluntown, Connecticut, died 1 April while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Sergeant Frank J. World was killed in the same incident.

Tyler Griffin was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Frank J. World, 25, of Buffalo, New York, died 1 April while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The incident also claimed the life of Lance Corporal Tyler Griffin.

Frank World was assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Miroslav Zilberman, 31, of Columbus, Ohio, died after his E-2C Hawkeye crashed into the Arabian Gulf on 31 March. The recovery effort was abandoned on 2 April and his body was not recovered.

Miroslav Zilberman was assigned to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121.

U.S. Army Private first-class Raymond N. Pacleb, 31, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died 29 March in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

Raymond Pacleb was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery Regiment, Wahiawa, Hawaii.

U.S. Army Specialist James L. Miller, 21, of Yakima, Washington, died 29 March in Dashat, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

James Miller was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

U.S. Soldier MIA from Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

U.S. Army Corporal Stanley P. Arendt was buried on 29 March in Palatine, Ill. In early November 1950, Arendt was assigned to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division occupying a defensive position near the town of Unsan in the bend of the Kuryong River known as the “Camel’s Head.” Arendt’s unit was involved in heavy fighting which devolved into hand-to-hand combat around their command post. Almost 400 men of the 8th Cavalry Regiment were reported missing in action or killed in action from the battle at Unsan.

In late November 1950, a U.S. soldier captured during the battle of Unsan reported during his debriefing that he and nine other American soldiers were moved to a house near the battlefield. The POWs were taken to an adjacent field and shot. Three of the 10 Americans survived, though one later died. He provided detailed information on the location of the incident and the identities of the other soldiers. Following the armistice in 1953 and the release of POWs, the other surviving soldier confirmed the details provided in 1950.

In May 2004, a joint U.S.-North Korean team excavated a mass grave near the “Camel’s Head” after receiving a report that an elderly North Korean national had witnessed the death of seven or eight U.S. soldiers near that location and provided the team with a general description of the burial site.

The excavation team recovered human remains and other personal artifacts, ultimately leading to the identification of seven soldiers from that site. Among the forensic techniques used in the identifications by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command was that of mitochondrial DNA, five samples of which matched the DNA of Arendt’s brother.

U.S. Soldiers MIA from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

A group burial for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth L. Stancil, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Chief Warrant Officer Jesse D. Phelps, Boise, Idaho; Specialist Thomas Rice, Jr., Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Specialist Donald C. Grella, Laurel, Nebraska, as well as Rice’s individual remains burial will be tomorrow at Arlington National Cemetery. Stancil, Phelps and Grella were buried individually last year.

The four men were aboard a UH-1D Huey helicopter which failed to return from a mission over Gia Lai Province, South Vietnam to pick up special forces soldiers on Dec. 28, 1965. The exact location of the crash site was not determined during the war, and search and rescue operations were suspended after failing to locate the men after four days.

From 1993-2005, joint U.S.-Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command attempted unsuccessfully to locate the site. But in April 2006, a joint team interviewed two local villagers, one of whom said he had shot down a U.S. helicopter in 1965. The villagers escorted the team to the crash site where wreckage was found. In March 2009, another joint team excavated the area and recovered human remains and other artifacts including an identification tag from Grella.

JPAC’s scientists employed traditional forensic techniques in making these identifications, including comparisons of dental records with the remains found at the site.