List of casualties with Washington state ties

Since the U.S. lauched its war on terrorism, dozens of men in uniform with connections to Washington state have died while serving in Afgahnistan, Kuwait and Iraq. The first death occurred just months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and they continue today.

Below is a list of those who have died both as a result of combat and accidents (in alphabetical order by region).

AFGHANISTAN

Jay Anthony Blessing, 23, Army sergeant from Tacoma, died Nov. 14, 2003, when his Humvee was struck by an improvised bomb in Afghanistan's Kunar province. Father: Jim Blessing (mother Carol is deceased). Brother: Jason.

Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, Fort Lewis Green Beret from Georgetown, Texas, became the first U.S. serviceman to die in combat in Afghanistan Jan. 4, 2002. A 13-year veteran, he was believed to have been shot to death by a 14-year old Afghan boy in an ambush. Parents: Will and Lynn Chapman, Georgetown, Texas. Wife: Renae, Seattle area. Children: Amanda and Brandon.

Spc. Harley D.R. Miller, 21, of Spokane died Nov 27, 2004, in an airplane crash near Bamian, Afghanistan. Two other soldiers and three civilians also died. He was a helicopter mechanic based at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu. He is survived by his mother, Christine Miller of Everett, and a son, Korey, who turned 1 in July 2004.

Army Cpl. Patrick D. Tillman, 27, Chandler, Ariz., assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis. Killed in combat when his patrol came under attack April 22 in Afghanistan. Wife, Marie.

* * *

IRAQ

First Lt. Michael R. Adams, 24, of Seattle was killed in Iraq March 16, 2004, when a weapon mounted on his tank accidentally swung around and hit him. He was assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Carson, Colo., which had been in the area about a year and was soon to leave.

Sgt. James Christopher Akin, 24, of Albuquerque, NM, died June 3, 2007, in Tahia when a bomb blew up near his Humvee. Akin was one of four members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade killed in the attack.

Cpl. Juan M. Alcantara, 22, of New York City, died Aug. 6, 2007, along with three fellow soldiers when a bomb exploded, destroying the house they were clearing in Baqouba. All four served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Cpl. Matthew Lee Alexander, 21, of Gretna, Neb., died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Alexander served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Air Force Master Sgt. Steven E. Auchman, 37, of Waterloo, N.Y., on duty with Fort Lewis’ Stryker brigade in Mosul, died Nov. 9, 2004, of his injuries from multiple rocket propelled grenades. Auchman, a 19-year Air Force veteran, was on detached duty from McChord Air Force base, working with the 5th Air Support Operations Squadron from Fort Lewis. He was deployed to Iraq in October.

Army Sgt. Corey J. Aultz, 31, of Port Orchard, was killed Jan. 30 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Ramadi. Aultz was a 12-year Army veteran and had been stationed in Germany for the past 11 years, where his widow and daughter live in a small Bavarian town. Aultz, who served with the 1st Infantry Division based in Schweinfurt, Germany, came from a close-knit military family and was on his second tour of overseas duty, which included missions to Kosovo and Bosnia, said his sister, Tamra Aultz. “He was a good person, and we are proud of him,” she said. Tamra recalled Aultz once telling her, “You know, I am just trying to do the best I can and keep people as safe as I can.”

Army Pfc. Jeffrey A. Avery, 19, of Colorado Springs, Colo., a military policeman from Fort Lewis, died April 23 in Muqudadiyah. He was manning a roadside checkpoint when and a bomb detonated. Two others were wounded. He was assigned to the 571st Military Police Company. Avery came from a military family, having been born at USMC Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Called a “model son” by his parents, his dream was to be a police officer.

Father and stepmother, Richard and Jennifer Avery, Visalia, Calif.

Army Spc. Tyanna Avery-Felder, 22, Bridgeport, Conn., a cook with Fort Lewis’ Stryker brigade, died April 6 of shrapnel wounds from an attack by insurgents two days earlier. She was nine days away from coming home on leave. Husband, Spc. Adrian Felder of Fort Lewis’ 1st Special Forces Group.

Pfc. Lionel Ayro, 22, Jeanerette, La., combat engineer, 73rd Engineer Company, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Pvt. Michael Baloga, 21, of Everett, was killed July 26, 2007, in Muqdadiyah by a bomb in the roadway when his convoy was attacked. Left behind one-year-old daughter, Iris. His sister, Leah Valade, lives in Marysville. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Tex.

Maj. Guy R. Barattieri, 36, of Seattle, a West Point graduate, Green Beret and Washington State National Guard soldier, died Sept. 30 while working in a private security contractor status in Iraq. Barattieri, whose Buckley based National Guard Special Forces company led the way for the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq, had been in-country numerous times in various capacities. After leaving the Army briefly in 2001 he became a Seattle Police officer for four years while serving with the state National Guard. Originally from the Cincinnati, Oh. area where he had been a star high school football player, Barattieri was a 1992 West Point graduate.

He left behind a wife of one year, Laurel, of Seattle, their three month old daughter, Rees, and a stepdaughter.

Staff Sgt. Ricardo Barraza, 24, of Shafter, Calif was killed in combat March 18 in Ar Ramadi in western Iraq. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Lewis, an elite special operations group, and serving his third deployment to Iraq. He also served three tours of duty in Afghanistan. Barraza joined the Army in 1999, Brehm in 2001. Barraza’s family told the Bakersfield Californian newspaper on Monday that he was shot and killed while helping to evacuate a building. Barraza had decided to stay behind to help another soldier when he was shot, his family said. Barraza as a boy had helped an uncle working in Washington’s asparagus fields. Barraza’s mother said her son was due home in May, when he would have turned 25. Barraza left behind his parents, Francisco and Nina of Shafter, Calif., four siblings, including a sister and brother in Sunnyside near Yakima, and a fiance, Maghan K. Herrington of Yakima.

Spc. Ryan Michael Bell, 21, of Colville, was killed Mar. 5, 2007 in Samarra by a roadside bomb. Bell, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed with five others from his unit during combat operations. He was a 2003 graduate of the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga. Wanting to be a doctor, he had many college scholarship offers but decided to join the Army, hoping his training and the GI Bill would help him realize his dream.

“There’s no regrets at this end,” the soldier’s father, Michael Bell, told the Associated Press. “He was a responsible young man, he was sensible, he knew what he wanted to do with his life.”

The two last talked March 3.

“I let him know how much he meant to us,” Bell said. “How we were very proud of him and very pleased with what he was doing with his life.”

Wife, Terri, Fayetteville, N.C. Father and stepmother, Michael and Virginia Bell, Colville. Mother, Sheryl Vickery, Spokane.

Spc. Rickey L. Bell, 21, Caruthersville, Mo., was one of four members of the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry from Fort Lewis killed Aug. 22, 2007, near Kirkuk when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed due to apparent mechanical failure. Ten other soldiers died with them.

Robert T. Benson, 20, Army specialist from Spokane, died Nov. 4, 2003, of a non-hostile gunshot wound in Baghdad. Widow: Aimee. No children. Dec. 28 would have been their first anniversary.

Marine Staff Sgt. Marvin Best, 33, Prosser, Wash., died June 20, 2004, due to hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. A 1989 Prosser High School graduate, Best was an infantry scout-sniper with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force from Twentynine Palms, Calif. Wife, Rachelle. Parents, William and Charlotte. Sister, Lorna Nunez.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin R. Bewley, 27, of Hector, Ark, died Nov.5, 2007, when an IED exploded during oerpations in Salah ad Din province. Bewley was the 6th casualty this year from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 based in Oak Harbor. Divorced, with a four-year-old daughter. Leaves older brother, two parents (divorced.)

Marine Cpl. Joseph P. Bier, 22, of Centralia, died in Iraq Dec. 8, 2006, of wounds suffered from a roadside bomb. He was a machine gunner who once served for two years in a security detachment at Naval Submarine Base Bangor. Bier was so passionate about serving his country he couldn’t wait to get to Iraq. According to The Olympian, Bier’s father, Wayne, who works in produce in a Lacey grocery store, said his son grew up with stories of biblical heroes fighting foes and protecting the weak, with his mother whispering in his ear “this is what Marines do.”

Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky. died April 6, 2007 near Kirkuk while traveling in a convoy that was attacked. The Whidbey Island-based sailor was killed along with two fellow members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11. The three had been in Iraq with the unit since earlier in 2007. Billiter, on his third tour of duty to Iraq, was married with a child. His wife is a seventh-grade teacher at North Whidbey Middle School.

Spc. Joseph M. D. Blickenstaff, 23, of Corvallis, Ore., died Dec. 8, 2003, in an accident on combat patrol in Iraq when his Stryker vehicle rolled into the Tigris River. He was one of three soldiers to die in the accident. They were the Stryker brigade’s first three fatalities in Iraq.

Sgt. Kenneth R. Booker, 30, died Nov. 14, 2007 in Mukhisa, Iraq of wounds suffered when an IED detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade., 2d Infantry Division. Fellow soldiers, Sgt. Christopher R. Kruse and Cpl. Peter William Schmidt were killed in the same operation.

1st Sgt. Michael Bordelon, 37, of St. Mary’s Parish, La., died May 10 at Brook Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of wounds suffered April 23, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, from a suicide bomber. Survived by his wife Mila and children Mike Jr., Jacob and Johanna.

Army Sgt. Larry R. Bowman, 29, of Granite Falls, N.C., died April 13 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Bowman was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 513th Transportation Company, 57th Transportation Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group.

Cpl. Anthony Mitchell Bradshaw, 21, of San Antonio, Texas, died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Bradshaw served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Sgt. Dale G.M. Brehm, 22, of Turlock, Calif., was killed in combat Mar. 18 in Ar Ramadi in western Iraq. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment based at Fort Lewis, an elite special operations group, and was serving his third deployment to Iraq. He also served three tours of duty in Afghanistan. Brehm left behind a widow, Raini, of Steilacoom. Parents, William Brehm and Laura Williams of Turlock.

Army Staff Sgt. Steven H. Bridges, 33, of Tracy, Calif.,died Dec. 8, 2003, in an accident on combat patrol in Iraq when his Stryker vehicle rolled into the Tigris River. He was one of three soldiers to die in the accident. They were the Stryker brigade’s first three fatalities in Iraq.

Spc. Travis Robert Bruce, 22, of Rochester, Minn., a military policeman, was killed in Iraq March 24, 2005, by a rocket propelled grenade while on patrol. A 2002 gradaute of Mayo High School, Bruce joined the Army out of high school. He left around Valentines Day for his second tour in Iraq with the 42nd Military Police Brigade from Fort Lewis.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Damage Controlman 3rd Class Nathan Bruckenthal, 24, Stony Brook, N.Y., formerly of Coast Guard Station Neah Bay, 2001 to 2003, where he met his wife, then a Pacific Lutheran University student. Killed with two U.S. Navy sailors April 24 by a waterborne suicide attack trying to destroy two oil terminals in the Persian Gulf. Wife, Patricia, four months pregnant with their first child.

Lance Corporal Cedric E. Bruns, 22, U.S. Marine from Vancouver, Wash., died in a Humvee accident in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom May 9, 2003. Parents: Debbie and Peter. Siblings: Brother Nick and stepbrother Eric.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda, 29. Stryker brigade soldier drowned Jan. 25, 2004, patrolling in police boat that capsized in Tigris River. Body recovered Feb. 10. Bunda is the first West Sound soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Four died in the 1991 Gulf War.

Staff Sgt. Michael Lee Burbank, 34, of Bremerton, died Oct. 11, 2004, in Mosul when a vegetable truck loaded with explosives blew up his Stryker military vehicle, leaving a 5-foot deep crater. Ten soldiers under his command were injured. Burbank was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, Fort Lewis. A Bremerton High graduate and seven-year-Army veteran, he was scheduled to come home in a week. Wife, Shela Culley, Bremerton.

Sgt. Travis Lee Burkhardt, 26, Edina, Mo., serving with Fort Lewis’s 170th Military Police Co., died June 6, 2003, in a vehicle accident in Baghdad. Wife, Rose. Children, Soliga, 3, Christian, 1. Parents, David Burkhardt and Kathy Shipley.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy Burris, 22, of Tacoma was killed Oct. 8, 2007, during combat in Al Anbar province. Burris was part of the 1st Marine Division stationed at Camp Pendleton.

Pfc. Jesse Buryj, 21, Canton, Oh. died May 5, 2004, protecting a checkpoint near Karbala, Iraq, from a dump truck trying to crash it. Buryj, in Iraq since February with the 66th Military Police Company from Fort Lewis, held his ground to fire more than 400 rounds, hitting the driver of the truck before it crashed into his Humvee. Army officials credited his actions with saving the lives of others. Wife, Amber Tichenor.

Cpl. Rhett A. Butler, 22, of Fort Worth, Tex., died July 26, 2007, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Khan Bani Sa’d. He was assigned to 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Marine Pfc. Cody Calavan, 19, Lake Stevens, Wash, died May 29, 2004, during combat in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Calavan, who joined the Corps June 16, 2003, was with Camp Pendleton, Calif.- based 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

1st Lt. Jaime L. Campbell, 25, of Ephrata, was among 12 killed in northern Iraq on Jan. 7 in the crash of a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter she copiloted. Campbell, former 1998 state rodeo queen and Ephrata High School student body president, was assigned to the Alaska Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment based in Anchorage. Campbell’s mother, Mikki Krause, said her daughter joined the Washington National Guard to help pay to complete her studies in interior design from Washington State University, from which she graduated in 2003. Krausse said her daughter emailed her every day. She called Campbell selfless and talented, an artist and expert horsewoman. Before her deployment, Campbell was living in Fairbanks with her husband, Army Capt. Sam Campbell, who flew back from Iraq with his wife’s body. Campbell’s father, Jeff Krausse, is an Army command sergeant major who had just returned from his own tour in Iraq, where he spent five days visiting his daughter in November. His last image of her was in the pilots seat when she flew him back to his post. “I never got to give her a hug good-bye,” he said. Husband, Capt. Jeff Sam Campbell, Fairbanks. Parents, Jeff and Mikki Krausse, Ephrata. Burial: Ephrata.

Pfc. Casey Carricker, 20, of Hoquiam, died in Kirkuk June 13 from injuries suffered in a noncombat incident. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. He joined the Army to earn a way to one day go to college. He didn’t like Iraq, his stepmother, Pammy Carriker said.

"He wanted to do it in the beginning, but once you’re there for so long you don’t want to be there anymore," she told the Seattle Times. "It’s hot; it’s lonely. ... He hated it."

Father, Stepmother.

Spc. Jonathan Castro, 21, Corona, Calif., combat engineer, 73rd Engineer Company, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Spc. Romel Catalan, 21, of Los Angeles, died June 2 in Ameriyah, Iraq, when a bomb exploded near his vehicle. Her served with Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Petty Officer Jeffrey L. Chaney, 35, of Omaha, Neb. was killed July 17, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Salah Ad Din. He served with EODMU 11 from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Chavez, 20, of Seattle, killed June 9, 2005, in an explosion in Iraq. He served as a tank crewman with Alpha Co., 1st Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. He was born in Odessa, Texas, grew up in Seattle’s Central District and graduated in 2003 from Ballard High School. Survived by his mother and five siblings.

Cpl. Bryan Chevalier, 21, of Athens Ga., a member of Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade’s 5th Battalion, 25th Infantry Regiment, was killed Mar. 14 by a roadside bomb in oufrek, near Baqouba, 35 miles north of Baghdad.

His battalion had been moved there to combat a rising insurgency. Major Robert Bennett said Chevalier enlisted in the Army in August 2005 to provide for his daughter, 5-year-old Taylor, and to pay for college so he could become a physical therapist or a doctor after his military career.“I remember him as a good kid, kindhearted, fun-spirited and smart as a whip," Chevalier’s father, Rick, of Zanesville, Ohio, said.

"He joined the Army on his own as something he wanted to do. He wanted to make something of his life. He defended his country, and it’s too bad it had to happen this way."

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Regina Clark, 43, of Centralia, was killed in an al-Qaida suicide car bomb attack outside Fallujah on June 23, one of the single deadliest attacks against women members of the U.S. military to date. A naval reserve mess cook, Clark was working at security checkpoints to help search Iraqi women. A single mom, Clark was on her second deployment to the MidEast with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 18 from Tacoma and was temporarily assigned to the Second Marine Expeditionary Force. She had been in-country for five months. After 9/11 Clark served in the Persian Gulf aboard the USS Nimitz. She was a veteran of Desert Storm in 1991. Clark planned to retire after this deployment. Survived by her mother, Mellita Fountain, and son, Kerry, 18, graduated high school in 2004.

Pvt. Bradli N. Coleman, 19, Ford City, Pa., died May 30, 2004, from wounds received a day before during a mortar attack in Mosul. Coleman was a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army’s first Stryker brigade, based at Fort Lewis.

Benjamin J. Colgan, 30, Army 2nd lieutenant from Kent, died Nov. 1, 2003, when he was struck by a homemade explosive device while responding to a rocket-propelled grenade attack. Widow: Jill. Daughters: Grace and Paige. A third daughter, Cooper, was born in December.

Army Special Forces Sgt. Maj. Bradly Conner, 41, born in Tacoma and raised in Kellogg, Idaho, was killed when his convoy was ambushed in a roadside bomb attack outside Al-Hillah on May 9. It was his fourth deployment. Already highly decorated, Conner was the highest ranking enlisted man from Fort Lewis to die in the war.

His sister, Brenda Day of Spokane told the Spokesman-Review that Conner was headed out to check on his team when the convoy was ambushed.

He met his wife, Cynthia, at church while he was stationed at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., in 1989.

They were a special couple, Day said, citing an 85 percent divorce rate in the Special Forces.

"The men that were under him had tremendous respect and admiration for him," Day said. "He was a natural-born leader. He cared about everybody, no matter who they were."

In addition to his wife, he left behind a son, Aaron, 14, and two daughters, Katie, 12, and Rachel, 6. Parents, William and Kay Conner, Coeur d.Alene, Id.

Marine Sgt. Jason Cook, 25, of Okanogan died in combat Aug. 21, 2004, in Al Anbar Province north of Baghdad. Cook, who joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from Okanogan High School in 1997, was among four Marines killed that day in Iraq. An anti-tank assault guided missileman, Cook was in his second deployment to Iraq. He met his wife in Bogota, Colombia, where he once was a Marine security guard at the U.S. Embassy. Cook was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force of Camp Pendleton, Calif. wife, Yovana, 25; mother and stepfather, Cheryl and Del Miles, Yakima.

Sgt. 1st Class David A. Cooper Jr., 36, of State College, Pa., died Sept. 5, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq, from a non-combat related injury. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, and his jobs included armor crewman and platoon sergeant. His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal (5 awards), Army Superior Unit Award (2 awards).

Air Force Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, 26, of Spanaway, a special operations combat air controller, was killed Memorial Day 2005 in an air crash 80 miles northeast of Baghdad that also claimed the lives of three others. The group was training the fledgling Iraqi air force in a reconnaissance plane. Survived by mother Linda Crate.

Cpl. Brandon Craig, 25, Earleville, Md., an infantryman with the 4th Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, was killed July 19, 2007, by a roadside bomb in Husayniyah.

Spc. Tyler L. Creamean, 21, of Jacksonville, Ark., was killed May 22, 2005, in Mosul when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 73rd Engineer Company. Nicknamed “Cream Puff.” Creamean had received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for valor before he was killed, earning him a third Purple Heart medal posthumously. Survived by his wife KaMisha, mother Rebecca Hout and stepfather Jeff Hout.

Spc. William J. Crouch, 21, of Zachary, La., killed June 2, 2007, in al Hadid, Iraq, when a bomb detonated near his vehicle. He served with Fort Lewis’s 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Sgt. Joel A. Dahl, 21, of Los Lunas, N.M., died June 23, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

Dahl enlisted in the Army April 27, 2004. He was married. His wife was planning to induce labor July 29 to surprise her husband when he returned home on leave. The baby boy, Kaiden, arrived Thursday July 28.

Sgt. Anthony J. Davis Jr., 22, of Long Beach, Calif., a sniper team leader, died April 23, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, as he stood exposed in the sentry hatch of his Stryker vehicle firing at a suicide car speeding toward him and his crew. Davis’s actions are credited with causing the bomber to blow up before reaching the Stryker, saving lives. Nicknamed Ace, Davis was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) from Fort Lewis.He is survived by his wife Michell and daughters Ah’lania, 4, and Aniya, born in October, three weeks after her father left.

Sgt. Dariek E. Dehn, 32, of Spangle, Wash., died June 2 in Sharkat, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Tex. He graduated from Liberty High School, Spangle, in 1993.

Pfc. Marc A. Delgado, 21, of Lithia, Fla., and Staff Sgt. Steven C. Reynolds, 32, of Jordan, N.Y., both Fort Lewis soldiers from the 170th Military Police Co., 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd MP Brigade, were killed Nov. 24, 2005, by a roadside bomb that flipped their Humvee into a canal.

Army Sgt. Jacob H. Demand, 29, Palouse, died in combat Sept. 15, 2004, west of Mosul. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack. Demand, a divorced father of three, was a vehicle commander with Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade. He joined the Army shortly after graduating from Garfield-Palouse High School in 1995. Mother and stepfather, Bruce and Charlene Baldwin, Pullman; father, Keith Demand, Arizona; children: Reanne, 8, Josh, 6, Seth, 5.

Pvt. Cory R. Depew, 21, of Beech Grove, Ind., died Jan. 4, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, when his Stryker military vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Depew was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 14th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Sgt. Gabriel DeRoo, 25, of Paw Paw, Mich., with family in Gig Harbor, was killed Aug. 20 in Mosul by small arms fire during combat operations. He served with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker brigade. He was the first from that unit to die in Iraq since it returned for a second deployment in June, and the 74th overall.

Flowers and letters he hand-wrote home were still arriving Tuesday as military casualty affairs officers were notifying his wife of his death.DeRoo’s fellow soldiers admired his integrity and faith, nicknaming him John 3:16. He had chosen the infantry because it was so demanding, and voiced a wish that if anyone from his platoon were to die, he would rather it be him and not one of his soldiers.

"He was a Christian young man of uncommon integrity, character and valor," the Rev. Mark Suko of Discovery Baptist Church in Gig Harbor said. "He was my inspirational prayer partner, and he was my son-in-law as well."

Wife, Hannah, Tacoma. Son, Gabe, 1. Parents, David and Laura. Sisters, Angela, 28, Charity and Chastity, 22, Patience, 19. Father-in-law, Mark Suko, pastor, Discovery Baptist Church, Gig Harbor.

Spc. Christopher Dickison, 26, of Seattle, was killed July 5 by a roadside bomb while riding in his vehicle northwest of Baghdad. Dickson, a shy guy from a close-knit West Seattle family, loved cars, baseball and golf, having once sculpted the family’s front yard into a putting green. Dickison was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan. He enlisted in the Army in April 2002 when he couldn’t find a decent job anywhere else. He was supposed to leave the Army in April, but his deployment in Iraq was extended to January 2006. Dickison recently had found a woman he considered the love of his life. He was the fifth of six children. He is survived by his parents, Rodney and Leanna and five brothers and sisters, including twin sister Ronda.

Spc. Thomas K. Doerflinger, 20, Silver Spring, Md., was killed in combat on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2004, by small arms fire in Mosul. Doereflinger was a 2002 graduate of Springbrook High School, where he received an international baccalaureate degree. He was a member of Fort Lewis’ Stryker Brigade Combat Team that deployed to Iraq in October. Quiet, studious and funny, he liked to write short stories, poetry and listen to Johnny Cash. He is survived by his parents, Richard M. and Lee, and siblings Anna, 23, Maria, 17, and Matthew, 12.

Pfc. Daniel G. Dolan, 19, of Roy, Utah and Cpl. Kenneth M. Cross, 21, of Superior, Wisc. were killed Aug. 21 in an ambush northwest of Baghdad, after a powerful roadside bomb destroyed their armored Stryker vehicle, forcing the crew outside to be cut down by smallarms fire and mortars. Seven more soldiers were wounded. in the attack that included a second roadside bomb and a firefight against bullets and mortars.

The two had been in Iraq only three weeks. They were members of the Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, also known as the Stryker Brigade Combat Team.Cross, who married only in April, is survived by his wife, Heidi, of Steilacoom, and parents Michael and Elizabeth of Wisconsin.

Dolan is survived by his parents, Tim and Fay of Utah, and 16-year-old sister, Michelle.

Sgt. Chadrick O. Domino, 23, of Ennis, Tex., killed May 31 by small-arms fire in Baghdad. 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Spc. Blain Ebert, 22, of Washtucna died Nov. 22, 2004, from injuries suffered in small-weapons fire. The 2001 graduate of Washtucna High School joined the Army after graduation. He had been assigned to the 1st Calvary Division.

1st Lt. William Anthony Edens, 29, of St. Louis, Mo., killed April 28, 2005, in Tal Afar by a car bomb that blew up near his Stryker vehicle, killing three others as well. He arrived at Fort Lewis in 2004 and served with the 1st Battalion 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, nicknamed Deuce Four. His unit left for Iraq shortly after his first wedding anniversary. Survived by his wife, Christina.

Staff Sgt. Kyle Eggers, 27, of Yakima, was killed Dec. 4, 2004, by a land mine in the vicnity of Al Habbaniyah, Iraq. A 9-year veteran and member of the 506th Infantry, Eggers was the son-in-law of Yakima City Council member Susan Whitman. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, a Yakima reserve firefighter, twin sons Kaden and Tegan, 2 1/2, and son Zane, 11 months.

Lance Cpl. Adam Q. Emul, 19, of Vancouver, died Jan. 29 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Emul was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Spec. Matthew J. Emerson, 20, of Grandview, Wash., died Sept. 18, 2007, in Ninevah Province of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. He served with the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Bliss, Tex.

Sgt. Blair W. Emery, 24, of Lee, Maine, died Nov. 30, 2007 in Baqubah, Iraq, when his vehicle was blown up by an IED. He was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant.

Sgt. Cory M. Endlich, 23, of Massillon, Ohio, died June 9 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire while on a scouting patrol. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

According to WKYC television in Ohio, Endlich had just turned 23 when he died. A 2003 Massilon Washington High graduate, he had been a four-year member of the Massillon Swing Band and ran cross country for two years.

Family members told the station they received a letter from him after they heard the news, but were too heartbroken to read it.

"I’m numb, I do a lot of crying and then I have good times where I’m good and then I just start crying all over again. I just can’t really believe it," Cory’s mother Cathi Endlich, told reporters.

He is survived by his parents and two brothers, Kenny and Kevin.

Cpl. Billy B. Farris, 20, of Bapchule, Az., a Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldier, died Dec. 3 in Taji after a roadside bomb blew up near the Stryker vehicle in which he rode. Farris joined the Army in 2004 and arrived at Fort Lewis in November of that year.

Cpl. Llythaniele Fender, 21, of Medical Lake near Spokane, was among three soldiers killed June 10, 2007 in a bombing in Karbala along with fellow soldier Cpl. Meresebang Ngiraked. The two served with B Battery, 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which relocated from South Korea to Fort Lewis in April 2006. The unit went to Iraq in February 2007.

Pfc. Marius L. Ferrero, 23, of Miami, Fla., died Nov. 18, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated during a mounted patrol in Baquabah, Iraq. Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson and Cpl. Jason T. Lee were also killed. The soldiers were all assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in April, 2007.

Sgt. Damien Thai Ficek, 26, Beaverton, Ore., an infantryman with the Washington National Guard, killed in action in Baghdad Dec. 30, 2004, when his patrol was attacked by enemy forces. A WSU student, Ficek was forced to withdraw from classes in fall 2003 when the Guard’s 81st Armored Brigade was called up for duty in Iraq. Survived by wife Kyla, parents, Donna and Danny Vian, Portland, and Dean and Suzanne Dibble, Vancouver, Wash.

Cpl. Donald E. Fisher II, 21, of Avon, Mass., was killed accidentally Nov. 11, 2005, in Kirkuk when his convoy was involved in a vehicle collision. Pfc. Antonio Mendezsanchez also died in the collision. Both men were Fort Lewis soldiers from the 40th Transportation Co., 44th Corps Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul J. Flynn, 28, Whitsett, N.C., was one of four members of the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry from Fort Lewis killed Aug. 22, 2007, near Kirkuk when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed due to apparent mechanical failure. Ten other soldiers died with them.

Marine Lance Cpl. Kane M. Funke, 20, Kalispell, Mont., was killed Aug. 13, 2004, in an explosion during combat in Al Anbar Province. Funke, who finished high school in Vancouver, served with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Ground Combat Center based in Twentynine Palms, Calif. Mother, Stephanie Kalispell, stepfather, Dale Johnston, Vancouver.

Staff Sgt. Greg Phil Gagarin, 38, of Los Angeles, CA, died June 3, 2007, in Tahia when a bomb blew up near his Humvee. Gagarin was one of four members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade killed in the attack.

Spc. Justin Garcia, 26, of Valley Cottage, N.Y., a Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldier, was killed Nov. 14 in Baghdad when a roadside bomb blew up his humvee. Garcia, born in Queens, lost his parents when he was a teenager.

Garcia, who celebrated his first wedding anniversary July 1 in Iraq, was excited about becoming a father next February. He and his wife, Michelle, learned last Father’s Day before he left for Iraq that they were to be parents.

“All he wanted was his son to grow up with a father,” his wife, Michelle, said from her parents Valley Cottage, N.Y. home.

His father-in-law, Vincent Narciso, said Garcia had wanted to serve his country after 9/11. “He was a good kid. He was sincere. He was brave,” Narciso said.

Cpl. Victor A. Garcia, 22, of Rialto, CA., died July 1, 2007, in Baghdad of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to Fort Lewis’ 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Garcia enlisted in the Army on Nov. 9, 2004, and completed initial entry training at Fort Knox, KY. He reported to Fort Lewis on Apr. 4, 2005, and was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. On Jan. 8, 2007, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, which deployed to Iraq as part of 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in April 2007.

His civilian and military education includes one year of college (2004) and Initial Entry Training for MOS 19K: Cannon Crewman (2005).

Sgt. Freeman L. Gardner Jr., 26, of Little Rock, Ark.. a member of the 18th Engineer Company with Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, died Mar. 22 of wounds suffered from a roadside bomb while on combat patrol in Baghdad. He was a signal systems support specialist, meaning he helped maintain or supervise the battlefield communications systems. His unit is expected to return home in June or July.

Gardner, whose wife lives in Seattle and worked at the University of Washington-Tacoma, joined the Army after attending the University of Oklahoma. In school he had been president of the Zeta Zeta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., the nation’s oldest fraternity of African-American college men.

In a written statement, his wife Kara said, "Sgt. Freeman L. Gardner was a devoted husband -- a quiet man with a gentle demeanor. Freeman loved going to the movies every Saturday with his wife and he loved listening to her colorful stories and impressions, which always kept him laughing.

"Gardner loved computers and video games, history, football and adored his young niece, Chanel.

"Freeman joined the Army in 2004 in order to obtain valuable work and leadership experience. He died serving his country and he was proud to have the opportunity to be a soldier. Freeman tried to prepare his wife in the best way he knew how for his departure from this life by pushing her everyday to be strong, assertive and resilient. Freeman was extraordinarily loved and will be missed every moment of every day."

Sgt. Mickel D. Garrigus, 24, of Elma, was killed Jan 27 in Taji by a roadside bomb while riding in his vehicle on combat patrol Garrigus was assigned to the 543rd Military Police Company with the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Army Pfc. Aaron D. Gautier, 19, of Hampton, Va., died May 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his mounted patrol encountered enemy forces using small arms and an improvised explosive device. He served with Fort Lewis’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Gautier, newly married to Lindsey, who he met while serving at Fort Lewis, was only in Iraq four weeks. He had called his wife to tell her he would phone again after what was expected to be a two-hour mission.

“He was growing into a fine young man and husband,” his father, Dan Gautier, told the Washington Post.

Gautier said his son told him he had been shot at and did not want to die in Iraq.

Mother, Tina Houchins, Newport News,. Va. Two sisters.

Spc. Clinton R. Gertson, 26, of Eagle Lake, Texas, a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, was killed by a sniper Feb. 19, 2005, in Mosul. Gertson had survived a suicide attack on a mess tent in Mosul the previous December. His brother served a year in Iraq.

Pfc. Devon Gibbons, Port Orchard, died June 23 of wounds suffered Apr. 11 in Taji. Member of Fort Hood, Tex.-based.

Spec. Zachariah J. Gonzalez, 23, of Indiana, was killed July 31, 2007, in Baghdad when a bomb blew up near his vehicle. Two other soldiers died in the attack. The three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Spc. Zachary Grass, 22, of Canton, Oh., died on June 16, the day before Fathers’ Day, when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Rashidiyah. Sgt. Danny R. Soto, 24, of Houston, Tex., was also killed in the attack. The two served with the 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. The brigade deployed to Iraq in April.

Staff Sgt. Darrell R. Griffin Jr., 36, of Alhambra, Calif., an infantry squad leader with Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker brigade, died Mar. 21 at a hospital in Balad after being shot during combat in Baghdad. Griffin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment.

Griffin, a decorated soldier, had earned the trust of his troops after saving the lives of three of them during the battle of Tal Afar near the Syrian border during a previous deployment in 2005. He had turned 36 on Mar. 13.

“Griff was the type of man you want to have by your side in a fight. He’s a tough SOB but he is going to train you to the max and keep you straight when the bullets are flying,” Maj. Brent Clemmer wrote from Iraq.

In a press statement, his wife, Diana, called him her “gift from God who was also the love of my life and always will be."

Griffin had served in the Army National Guard before joining the active-duty Army in 2001, when he came ot Fort Lewis. He first served in Iraq from October 2004 to September 2005 when he earned the Bronze Star for Valor for his courage in saving the lives of others.

Wife, Diana.

Sgt. Donald Griffith Jr., 29, of Mechanicsville, Iowa, died March 15, 2005, in Telefar, Iraq, while protecting his fellow soldiers as he came under heavy attack from small arms fire following a suicide bombing. Griffith, with Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, joined the Army nine years ago and had been in Iraq since September working in secret operations. His eighth wedding anniversary (wife Stacy) would have been March 20. Only hours before his death he had emailed his sister telling her he “hadn’t been shot at in weeks.” He was also survived by his parents, Donald Sr. and Diane.

Spc. Kelly B. Grothe, 21, of Spokane, Wash., an Army Reserve soldier assigned to Company B, 321st Engineer Battalion based in Hayden Lake, Id., was killed May 3, 2007, when his armored personnel carrier struck a roadside bomb. Staff Sgt. Coby G. Schwab also died in the attack. Their unit had been sent to Iraq to clear roadside bombs.

A lover the outdoors and adventure, Grothe recently returned to school in Washington to study geology.

On his myspace.com page, he wrote, “I decided to get off of active duty and join the reserves so I could go to college. Well about a year in college the Army decided they hadn’t had enough of me so they sent me back to Iraq for the second time. That’s where I am now."

Sgt. Nicholas A. Gummersall, 23, of Pocatello, Id. died Aug. 6, 2007, along with three fellow soldiers when a bomb exploded, destroying the house they were clearing in Baqouba. All four served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Pfc. Hannah L. Gunterman, 20, Öof Redlands, Calif., who served with Fort Lewis’s 542nd Maintenance Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, died Sept. 4 in Taji Iraq also from noncombat-related injuries.

Army Spc. Charles Haight, 23, Jacksonville Fla. of Fort Lewis’s 555th Engineer Group, died Dec. 26, 2003, of a homemade bomb explosion in a convoy in Iraq. Wife, Micha. Children Gabriel.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho, died April 6, 2007 near Kirkuk while traveling in a convoy that was attacked. The Whidbey Island-based sailor was killed along with two fellow members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11. The three had been in Iraq with the unit since earlier in 2007.

Army Pfc. Jonathan V. Hamm, 20, of Baltimore died in Baghdad May 17 when his operating base was hit with indirect enemy fire – Army parlance for a mortar attack or artillery round. He served with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. He joined the Army in November 2004.

His parents both were dead. Since joining the Army he wrote to his mom until her death in February 2007. His dad died in 2000. Hamm loved carpentry and was a graduate from a vo-tech high school. Born and raised in Baltimore, he loved to travel, his aunt, Eleanor Swan told the Washington Post.

After he got to be 15-16, he liked to get on the bus and the train and just learn his way around the city," Swan recalled. "He’d make a whole day sightseeing like that. He always wanted to travel more."

He is survived by two brothers.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Hanson, 21, of Forks, was killed July 29 in Anbar Province when an explosion collapsed a building, killing him and three others. Hanson was a scout with D Company, 3rd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion and had survived being shot before due to his armored vest.

He joined the Marines in March 2005 and deployed to Iraq just two months after marrying Maria Farias.

A Marine publication interviewed him after his vest deflected a bullet. “I’m happy to carry the extra weight," he told the interviewer.

His mother said he also survived three car accidents. “It took the whole universe coming down to stop him,” she said.

Hanson was posthumously promoted from PFC to lance corporal.

Parents, Steven and Carol Hanson.Wife, Maria Farias-HansonParents, Carol and Stephen Hanson, Forks. Sister, Sarah Hanson, Bremerton.

Sgt. Jason Robert Harkins, 25, of Clarksville, Ga., died May 6 in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Harkins served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Pfc. Adam J. Harris, 21, Abilene, Texas, was killed Sept. 22, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq, when he was shot by a sniper while on patrol. Harris was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

Sgt. Gene Hawkins, 24, of Orlando, Fla, a member of Fort Lewis’s 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Combat Support Brigade, was killed by a roadside bomb Oct. 12 in Mosul. His unit, which left for Iraq in November 2005, was heading home the week he died. Hawkins, however, stayed a bit longer to help other incoming troops get acclimated, his family told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Hawkins joined the Army in February 2003, a month before the war began, and wanted to make it a career, his family said.

Justin W. Hebert, 25, Army specialist from Arlington, died Aug. 1, 2003, from a rocket-propelled grenade explosion while in a convoy on night patrol near Kirkuk, Iraq. Parents: Bill and Robin. Sister: Jessica.

Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein Jr., 23, of Hemlock, Mich., was killed July 31, 2007, in Baghdad when a bomb blew up near his vehicle. Two other soldiers died in the attack. The three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Sgt. 1st Class Richard J. Henkes II, 32, of Portland, died Sept. 3, 2006, when he was fatally wounded by a roadside bomb during combat operations. He served with Fort Lewis’s Stryker Brigade.

Pfc. Shawn D. Hensel, 20, of Logansport, Ind., died Aug. 14, 2007, of wounds sustained during an attack on his patrol in Baghdad. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. He and his wife, Laci N. Harmon, 19, were married in December 2006.

Sgt. Frank B. Hernandez, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz., was killed Feb. 17, 2005, in Tal Afar when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle. Hernandez served with the 14th Cavalry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis that went to Iraq in October 2004. He is survived by his wife Cristin.

Army Sgt. Jacob R. Herring, 20, Kirkland, assigned to 3rd Combat Team Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker brigade Fort Lewis. Died of injuries April 28 sustained when his vehicle was struck by an improvised bomb a day earlier. Mother, Susan Sutter. Siblings, Joe and Nick.

Spc. Jordan W. Hess, 26, of Marysville, died Dec. 5 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of wounds sustained Nov. 11 in Iraq. Hess was a member of the 1st Infantry Division based in Germany and a graduate of Lake Stevens High School.

Pfc. Charles B. Hester, 23, a Bremerton native who moved to Cataldo, Id., was killed May 26 when the vehicle he was in was struck by an explosive device, the Pentagon said. He served with Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade.

Army Staff Sgt. Kristopher A. Higdon, 25, of Odessa, Tex., a 1999 high school graduate, left behind a wife, MaKayne, a daughter and son, Kacie and Hunter, his parents and three siblings. Like Kuehl, he joined the Army in 1999 and was on his second tour to Iraq. He came home in March for a visit and went to his 15-year-old brother, Kaleb’s, geography class.

“They were completely enthralled in everything he had to say,” the teacher, Michele Martinez, told the hometown Odessa American.

Kaleb worshipped his big brother, and stayed connected with his other siblings to Higdon on MySpace.com.

“He just told me he loved me, that he’d see me soon,” Kaleb said of a last message.

A member of Fort Lewis’s 4th Stryker Brigade, 4th Battalion, he died May 22 in a roadway bomb explosion.

Sgt. Andrews J. Higgins, 28, of Hayward, Calif., died June 5 in Baqubah of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rdStryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe, 27, Kailua, Hawaii, a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, was killed by a sniper Jan. 22, 2005, in Mosul while leading a foot patrol. Hoe and his wife, Emily, 21, a Western Oregon University business student, had been married seven months. A University of Hawaii graduate in business administration, Hoe had aspirations of one day joining the FBI.

Pfc. Sam W. Huff, 18, of Tucson, Az., died April 18, 2005, in Baghdad, a day after a roadside bomb blew up her Humvee. She was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 170th Military Police Company, 504th MP Battalion, 42nd MP Brigade. At 16 Huff told her parents she intended to enlist in the Army, go to college to study psychology and become an FBI agent. She had been in Iraq 10 weeks. She was a 2004 graduate of Mountain View High School. She is survived by her parents, Robert and Margaret Williams.

Capt. William W. Jacobsen Jr., 31, Charlotte, N.C., commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Pfc. Alfred H. Jairala, 29, of Hialeah, Fla., was killed July 31, 2007, in Baghdad when a bomb blew up near his vehicle. Two other soldiers died in the attack. The three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Capt. Drew N. Jensen, 27, of Clackamas, Ore., died Sept. 7, 2007 in Seattle of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms during combat operations May 7, in Ba’qubah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis. Wife, Stacia.

Maj. Alan Johnson, 44, of Yakima, an Army reservist, husband and stepfather, was killed Jan. 26, 2007, by a roadside bomb.

Cpl. Carl W. Johnson II, 21, of Philadelphia, a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, was killed Oct. 7, 2006, in Mosul by a roadside bomb. Johnson, a member of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, joined the Army after graduating in 2003 from Simon Gratz High School in Wissinoming near Philadelphia. He wanted to drive tanks.Johnson’s aunt, Patricia Williams, told the Philadelphia Daily News her nephew’s father died before he was born and he was the only son of Peggy Johnson Crocker. Johnson is also survived by three sisters."He [Carl] became her pride and joy," Williams told the newspaper.

Johnson’s mother believed that the military shouldn’t send an only son to a war zone, she said.

Crocker and her son last communicated on Friday by email, Williams said.

"He [Carl] was just saying he was getting ready to go on a mission," Williams said. Johnson was to return home next January, she said.

"He was looking forward to going back to school, to college," she said.Johnson’s aunt said he was "pretty much a really funny guy. He liked to laugh and liked to joke... He liked to be happy," the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Cpl. Jeremiah J. Johnson, 23, of Vancouver, died Jan. 6, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle rolled over Dec. 26 in Baghdad. Johnson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Staff Sgt. Robert S. Johnson, 23, Castro Valley, Calif., chemical operations specialist, A Company, 24th Infantry Regiment, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Army Sgt. Curt E. Jordan, 25, Spokane, with Fort Lewis’s 555th Combat Engineer Group, died Dec. 28, 2003, of non combat injuries of a reaction to chemicals during a minesweeping operation near Bayji, Iraq. Wife, Kim. Children Felicia, 6, Derrek, 2.

Army Staff Sgt. Henry Kahalewai Jr., 43, of Hilo, Hawaii, a Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldier, died Dec. 15, 2006, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries he received in Iraq.

Kahalewai, who planned to retire from the Army in 2007, had been wounded Nov. 21 in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded near his Stryker vehicle. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Kahalewai was born and raised in Hilo, graduating from Hilo High School.

In addition to his son, survivors include his wife, Debbie, and their two daughters, who lived with him in Tacoma, and a grandson.

Pfc. Anthony A. Kaiser, 27, of Narrowsburg, N.Y., a member of the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade from Fort Lewis, was killed Mar. 17, 2007, in combat by small arms fire. A 1998 gradaute of Narrowsburg (N.Y.) High School, Kaiser worked for the Narrowsburg Fire Department and the New York State Patrol before joining the Army in 2005. Kaiser’s mother died of cancer when he was 13 and he lost an older brother to a car accident in 1997.

“After he lost his brother, I think he wanted to do something good for the communtiy,’ his stepbrother, Michael Kelly, told the Middletown (N.Y) Herald record. Kelly said Kaiser told him in January he was training Iraqi soldiers.

"He wasn’t crazy about being there," Kelly said. "He understood he was there to do a job and do the best job he could. When his time was up, he was looking forward to coming home."

Wife, Heather. Stepmother, Marilyn Kelly.

Spec. Vincent G. Kamka, 23, of Everett was killed Oct. 2, 2007. His death marked the100th casualty of a soldier with ties to Washington who have died in Iraq this year.

Kamka, who grew up in Idaho, was part of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

The U.S. Department of Defense released no details about the circumstances of his death, citing an active investigation. Kamka died in Bayji.

Kamka, who was not married, was the youngest of 11 children and is survived by his parents and siblings, said Lt. Col Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard. Kamka had moved to Everett to join several of his brothers. He was serving his first deployment in Iraq when he was killed.

In a statement, his parents said, "Vince believed in duty to God, country, and family. He served this country with dedication obvious to all now. Vince was a quiet, respectful and honorable son, beloved brother and uncle. We thank God for Vincent’s life and sacrifice. We honor all others who stand up next to him; this is the price of freedom."

Cpl. Jason M. Kessler, 29 of Mount Vernon, died July 30, 2007, in Iraq after being wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from Fort Lewis.

Spc. Kareem R. Khan, 20, of Manahawkin, N.J. died Aug. 6, 2007, along with three fellow soldiers when a bomb exploded, destroying the house they were clearing in Baqouba. All four served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Spc. Eric D. King, 29, a Floridian who made his wife’s hometown of Vancouver his own, was among seven Fort Hood, Tex. soldiers killed in Baghdad Apr. 22, 2006, in a fiery roadside bombing of their Humvee. His wife, Tracie, a nursing student at Clark College, declined to talk about their personal life, except to recall her husband’s humor and good nature. Daughters Shealyn, 8, and Ashlin, 6. Parents. Eddie and Donna King, Reidsville, Ga. Three siblings.

Sgt. Tyler Kritz, 21, of Eagle River, Wis., died June 3, 2007, in Tahia when a bomb blew up near his Humvee. Kritz was one of four members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade killed in the attack.

Sgt. Christopher R. Kruse, 23, of Emporia, Kansas died Nov. 13, 2007, in Mukhisa, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an IED detonated during dismounted combat operations. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade., 2d Infantry Division. Had been deployed since April 2007. Fellow soldiers, Cpl. Peter William Schmidt and Sgt. Kenneth R. Booker were killed by the same attack.

Army Staff Sgt. David C. Kuehl, 27, of Wahpeton, N.D., died May 22, 2007, in a roadway bomb explosion. The 8-year veteran was on his second deployment to Iraq as a member of Fort Lewis’s 4th Stryker Brigade, 4th Battalion.

He and his wife, Amy, named their 9-month old daughter, Messa, after a little girl he befriended on his first tour, Amy Kuehl told the Associated Press. He also leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter Kiley.

“He just liked her name. She was a cute little girl. I never did get a picture of her or anything but ever since that day, we kept that name,” she said. "He was a great father.”

Kuehl joined the Army in 1999, and served in Kosovo. He is survived by a wife and son, his parents, and siblings.

Sgt. Joshua S. Ladd, 20, of Port Gibson, Miss, died May 1, 2004, in Mosul when his convoy vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Ladd was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 367th Maintenance Company, DeKalb, Miss., but attached to Fort Lewis-based 44th Corps Support Battalion.

Spc. Mathew P. LaForest, 21, of Austin, Tex., died May 25, 2007, in Taji when his unit came enemy small arms fire. LaForest joined the Army Aug. 26, 2004, and was in Iraq as an infantryman assigned to C Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. LaForest, who graduated from high school in 2004, reported to Fort Lewis Jan. 11, 2005, and was assigned to 4th Bde., 2nd Infantry Div. The brigade deployed to Iraq in April 2007.

Spc. Joseph N. Landry III, 23, of Pensacola, Fla., died with two other soldiers Sept. 18, 2007 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq when a homemade bomb blew up near them during combat. The other soldiers were Spc. Nicholas P. Olson and Spc. Donald Valentine III. The three served with Fort Lewis’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven Langmack, 33, of Seattle, was killed in combat May 31, 2005, in Al Qaim, Iraq. Langmack, a Green Beret stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., graduated in 1990 from Burien’s Kennedy High School. He was a veteran of the first Gulf War, and had served in operations in Haiti and Afghanistan. Survived by wife Rachaelle; sons Sam, 16, and Carson, 7; parents Louise and Paul Langmack.

Cpl. Jason T. Lee, 26, of Fruitport, Mich., died Nov. 18, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated during a mounted patrol in Baquabah, Iraq. Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson and Pfc. Marius L. Ferrero were also killed. The soldiers were all assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in April, 2007.

Staff Sgt. Hector Leija, 27, of Houston, Tex., a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, was killed by a sniper in Iraq on Jan, 24. He was on his third tour of duty to Iraq. He came home on leave in the fall.A gripping account of his squad’s fight with insurgents and his death was reported by the New York Times. Leija was a standout student at Raymondville High School in the Rio Grande Valley, from which he graduated in 1997. A scholar-athlete who came from a familiy of farm workers, Leija’s accomplishments as a member of the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes earned him a chance to attend Baylor University. Instead, he chose to be a soldier.

Spc. Damon G. Legrand, 27, of Lakeside, Calif., died June 12 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with anti-tank mines, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 571st Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis.

Pfc. Jason F. Lemke, 30, of Milwaukee, Wisc., died Jan. 5, 2008 in Ibrahim Al Adham, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was a mortarman assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Lemke enlisted Dec. 18, 2004 at Milwaukee. He reported to Fort Benning, Ga. on Jan. 12, 2005 for initial entry training. He reported to Fort Lewis May 19, 2005, where he was assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment (later reflagged 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division). He was assigned to the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment on Jan. 8, 2007. The brigade deployed to Iraq in April, 2007.

Sgt. Joel William Lewis, 28, of Sandia Park, N.M., died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Lewis served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Sgt. Velton Locklear III, 29, recently from Lacey, died Sept. 23 of combat wounds. He served with the 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Staff Sgt. Brian M. Long, 32, of Burns, Wyo., died June 10 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from an explosive ordnance. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

Duane E. Longstreth, 19, Army private first class from Tacoma, died Aug. 7, 2003, of non-combat related injuries in Baghdad. Parents: Jennifer West and step-father Joseph West. Sisters: Anna and Victoria.

Pfc. Luigi Marciante Jr., 25, of Elizabeth, N.J., died Sept. 20, 2007, in Muqdadiyah of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Lewis.

Marciante was home just a month before for the birth of his son. He was looking forward to coming home next June to be with his wife Stephanie, also an Iraq war veteran, and their new baby, Lorenzo. He hoped to find a career in law enforcement, like his father, who was a police officer in Italy.

Pfc. Jesse Jack Martinez, 20, of Tracy, Calif. died July 14, 2004, in Talafar, 45 miles from Mosul in Northern Iraq with Cpl. Demetrius Lamont Rice. Martinez was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd (Stryker) Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. A 2002 graduate of Duncan-Russell High School, Martinez was eager to join the Army, and saw it as a way to get a college education. Mother, Jan Martinez, Tracy. Father, Manuel Martinez, Jr., Modesto. Siblings: Manuel III, Teresa.

Sgt. Charles Matheny IV, 23, of Stanwood, who served with the Fort Hood, Tex.-based 4th Infantry Division, was killed in Baghdad when a roadside bomb blew up his Humvee. It was his second tour in Iraq. Matheny, a mechanic, graduated from Arlington High School in 2000, and joined the Army in 2001. He was the only child of Chuck Matheny, a union electrician, and Dedi Noble, who works for the city of Everett. The two met while serving together in the same battalion in which their son was serving when he died. Father, Chuck, and stepmother, Lisa Matheny. Mother, Dedi, and stepfather, David Noble.

Marine Maj. Megan Malia McClung, 34, Coupeville, was killed Dec. 6 in Ramadi by a roadside bomb. She was a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis.

Staff Sgt. Thomas Michael McFall, 36, of Glendora, Calif. had served in Korea and Afghanistan. At Fort Lewis since 2005, he joined the new Stryker brigade in January 2007.

His wife, Emily, called him “my husband, a proud dad, a great son, and a friend to many.” She recalled how they opened their house at Christmas and Thanksgiving so his soldiers would not be alone for the holidays.

“He loved the brotherhood, and his heart beat red, white, and blue... there was only one exit for him,” she said. “Keep us and his fellow brothers that are still over there in your prayers.”

He was killed Memorial Day, May 28, 2007, by a roadway bomb.

Cpl. Graham M. McMahon, 22, of Corvallis, Ore., died in Balad of a non-combat related illness, the Pentagon said. McMahon served with the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. Army officials said McMahon was posthumously promoted to corporal from his rank of specialist. Officials declined to disclose the nature of his illness, citing privacy policies.

Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga. died April 6, 2007 near Kirkuk while traveling in a convoy that was attacked. The Whidbey Island-based sailor was killed along with two fellow members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11. The three had been in Iraq with the unit since earlier in 2007.

Staff Sgt. Julian S. Melo, 47, Brooklyn, N.Y., supply specialist, H&H Col, 5th Infantry Regiment, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Cpl. Casely L. Mellen, 21, of Huachuca City, Ariz, an infantry man assigned to a Stryker vehicle, was killed Sept. 25 after his patrol came under attack by enemy forces in Mosul. Mellen had been married less than a year and is the 11th soldier from Fort Lewis to die in Iraq this year. Mellen’s father, Casey E. Mellen Öof Huachuca City, told the Arizona Daily Star his son was adventurous and excited about deploying until he got married, “which kind of changed his mind.” The elder Mellen said his son was a perfectionist, knew his job, and had been intent on joining the Army after high school and trying a semester of college.

Mellen told the Sierra Vista Herald that his son came from a normal family, had an older sister, Michelle, and graduated from Omega Alpha Academy, a now-closed charter school, in Sierra Vista.

Staff Sgt. Tracy Melvin, 31, of Seattle, was killed Aug. 6 in Ar Ramadi when a roadside bomb blew up near the Humvee in which he rode. Two other soldiers were killed as well. Melvin was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division based in Baumholder, Germany. He served assignments in Egypt and Panama, and at Fort Lewis. Before that, Melvin served four years with the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, known more popularly as the Old Guard, at Fort Myer, Va., home of Arlington National Cemetery. He was a pallbearer at the 1999 funeral for retired general and former Seattle Schools superintendent John Stanford.

Melvin was a football player at Chief Sealth High School in Seattle before he transferred to Harry S. Truman High School in Federal Way in 1992.

He was determined to make the Army a career. “The Army was his life,” said his father, Bill Swindle. “He said he would go as long as he could.”

Wife, Mary. Two stepchildren. Father, Bill Swindle, South Seattle. Former mother-in-law, Paula Vandeway, Tacoma.

Pfc. Antonio Mendezsanchez, 22, of Rincon, Puerto Rico, was killed accidentally Nov. 11, 2005, in Kirkuk when his convoy was involved in a vehicle collision. Cpl. Donald E. Fisher II also died in the collision. Both men were Fort Lewis soldiers from the 40th Transportation Co., 44th Corps Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group.

Spc. Michael M. Merila, 23, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., died Feb. 16, 2004, after being seriously wounded near Tall Afar, about 35 miles west of Mosul, when his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device. Mother: Susan, of Tucscon.

Pfc. Bruce Miller, 23, of Orange, N.J., was killed March 22, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq, in a "non-combat" shooting that was being investigated. He belonged to the 5,000-member Stryker Brigade at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Pvt. Scott A. Miller, 20, of Casper, Wyo., died June 9 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

Sgt. David A. Mitts, 24, of Hammond, Ore., a member of Fort Lewis’s 25th Division Stryker brigade, was killed Dec. 4, 2004, with Staff Sgt. Salamo J. Tuialuuluu when their Stryker vehicle came under enemy fire while traveling in a convoy in Mosul. Mitts enlisted in the Army in 1999 after graduating from Warrenton High School, and married his high school sweetheart.

Army Pfc. Jesse Mizener, 24, Auburn, Calif., serving with Fort Lewis’s 593rd Corps Support Group, died Jan. 7, 2004, in a mortar attack at Logistical Base Seitz, Iraq. Wife, Nicole. Children Gia, 2, Eve, 1, Jesse Jr, 4 months.

Army Maj. Horst Gerhard 'Gary' Moore, 38, San Antonio, Texas, a member of Fort Lewis’ 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, died after being wounded in a mortar attack on his compound in Mosul, Nov. 9, 2004. He never got to live in the Los Fresnos house he bought for his family before he left for war. A 17-year veteran, he considered retiring in three years. He last phoned his wife Sunday, Nov. 7, her birthday. He is survived by his wife, Raquel, and daughter Sofia, 2.

Marine Cpl. Darrel J. Morris, 21, of Spokane, Wash., died Jan. 21 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Morris was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Sgt. Eric Wayne Morris, 31, of Sparks, Nev., born in Enumclaw. He was killed April 28, 2005, in Tal Afar by a car bomb that blew up near his Stryker vehicle, killing three others as well. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. Survived by wife Jolene and stepdaughters Chyann and Chyna. Father James Wayne Morris, Pocatello, Idaho, and mother Bonnie Bolinger, Troy, N.Y.

Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence Morrison, 45, Yakima, an Army medic serving a special operations unit, the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed Sept. 19, 2005, by an roadside bomb while riding in a Humvee, accompanying U.S. Marines on a mission for which he volunteered near Taji, Iraq. Morrison, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Yakima, took early retirement from the Army in 1995 after serving since 1979. He was called from the inactive reserve in March and arrived in Iraq in June. He was due home on leave Oct. 1. Survivors include his wife Becky, son Lawrence, a military policeman, stepson Zachary, 14, and father Kenneth L. Morrison, Middletown, Ohio.

Sgt. Benjamin C. Morton, 24, of Wright, Kan., died May 22, 2005, in Mosul when his patrol encountered enemy small arms fire. Morton joined the Army in July 2000 and went to Fort Lewis in May 2002.He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, part of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at the Army’s Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma.

Army Spc. Nathan Nakis, 19, Sedro Woolley, Oregon National Guard soldier and Oregon State University student, killed Dec. 16, 2003, in a vehicle accident near Mosul. Parents, Arty and Elinor Nakis.

Master Sgt. Robb G. Needham, 51, of Vancouver, Wa., had been a soldier for a dozen years before Mellen was born, joining the Army in the latter years of the Vietnam war in 1973. He was serving with the Army Reserve’s Fort Lewis-based 356th Regiment, 4th Brigade, 91st Division, and died Sept. 20 of wounds sustained when his patrol encountered enemy forces in Baghdad.

During his career, Needham received the Bronze Star and four Army Commendation Medals among his many decorations. He held jobs as a human resources specialist, an infantryman and a construction equipment repairer, and most recenty was a mechanical maintenance supervisor.

At Fort Lewis, Needham helped train soldiers heading to Iraq. In Iraq, he wanted to help train Iraqi police and special forces to defend their own country. He first volunteered for a six-month tour there in February 2003 and again in January 2006.

His wife, Catherine, and son, Dylan,remembered him in a written statement.

"Duty. Honor. Country.

"Master Sergeant Robb G. Needham is a loving husband, father, grandfather, friend, and a honorable Soldier. He is a hero in our eyes and hearts. On September 20, 2006 he died doing what he believed was right. He is a Soldier’s Soldier. He served with honor throughout his 30-year military career, and will always be remembered as a man who served with integrity, honor, and pride in his country. I am blessed that I was his wife for 27 years, and I will always love him with all of my heart."

Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson, 22, of Rochester, Wash., died Nov. 18, 2007, when an improvised explosive device detonated during a mounted patrol in Baquabah, Iraq. Cpl. Jason T. Lee and Pfc. Marius L. Ferrero were also killed. The soldiers were all assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in April, 2007.

Cpl. Meresebang Ngiraked, 21, of Koror, Republic of Palau, was among three soldiers killed June 10 in a bombing in Karbala along with fellow soldier Cpl. Llythaniele Fender. The two served with B Battery, 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, which relocated from South Korea to Fort Lewis in April 2006. The unit went to Iraq in February 2007.

Sgt. Justin Dean Norton, 21, of Rainier, was killed June 24 in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. He served with the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Hood, Tex. He had wanted to be a soldier since age 5. Relatives say he was well liked, a jokester, athlete and a good student at Rainier High School in Thurston County from which he graduated in 2003. He planned to enroll at a community college after his tour in Iraq and study criminal justice.

He outlined his autobiography at Justin’s My Space at www.justinnorton.net/about.htm

It said he loved the blues, considered his grandmother battling cancer his hero, and liked athletics, doing anything outdoors and hanging out with friends and familiy.

“I am 21 and from a small town in Washington state. I am a nice guy who likes to hang out with friends and meet new people. I enjoy working out indoors and outdoors. I seem to be looking for love in all the wrong places so I just quit looking. My motto is nice guys finish last but they do finish. I am in the army and deployed in Iraq,.” he wrote.

Parents: Mother, Chris Warnock and stepfather, Gary. Father, Jeff and stepmother, Sandy, Norton. Rainier. Siblings: Joshua Warnock, Dean Norton.

Army Cpl. Wade J. Oglesby, 27, of Grand Junction, Colo. of Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was killed Apr. 18 in Tajit by a roadside bomb during combat operations. He was a member of the brigade’s 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.

Sgt. Willard Todd Partridge, 35, of Natchez, Miss., a member of Fort Lewis’s 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, was killed Aug. 20, 2005, by a roadside bomb. He had returned to active duty only a day before after recovering from a knee injury. Partridge joined the military two years ago after local industry in his hometown was closed.Survivors include his wife, Rhonda, and daughters Kelsee, 11, and Kymberlee, 9.

Spc. Nicholas P. Olson, 22, of Novato, Calif., died with two other soldiers Sept. 18, 2007 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq when a homemade bomb blew up near them during combat. The other soldiers were Spc. Joseph N. Landry III and Spc. Donald Valentine III. The three served with Fort Lewis’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade.

Chief Warrant Officer Scott A.M. Oswell, 33, of Colorado, died July 4, 2007, in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his helicopter struck a power line while he flew to save a man’s life. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 6th U.S. Air Cavalry, Fort Lewis. He joined the Marines out of Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, and later joined the Army to become a Kiowa helicopter pilot. Oswell was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. In 2005, as a member of the veterans help-group, U.S. Vets while in Hawaii, he took his daughter, Caitlyn, now 11, to serve food to homeless veterans. He left behind a wife, Cheri, and three children.

Staff Sgt. Ronald Paulsen, 53, of Vancouver, was killed Oct. 17. in Tamiyah from injuries sustained when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle. Paulsen was a member of the Army reserve’s 414th Civil Affairs Battalion in Utica, N.Y.

Paulsen entered the Army National Guard in 1977 and completed the civil affairs specialist course in January 2006. He was a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was buried Oct. 30 at Willamette National Cemetery.

Wife, Beverly. Stepson John Double.

Brothers, Jerry Paulsen and Christopher Paulsen.

Spc. Rocky D. Payne, 26, of Howell, Utah, died March 16, 2005, in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee while he was helping to protect U.S. forces delivering mail in Iraq. Payne, a former Marine, was serving his second tour in Iraq. He was assigned to Fort Lewis’s 497th Transportation Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, 1st Corps Support Command.

Marine Sgt. Travis Pfister, 27 of Richland, was killed Feb. 7 with six others when a helicopter was shot down northwest of Baghdad. Pfister, a helicopter crew chief, on his third tour of duty in Iraq and due home in several weeks. He was stationed at Camp Pendelton, where his wife was also a Marine. Pfister graduated from Hanford High, where he was remembered for his sense of humor and love of barbecue ribs. In an e-mail a week before his death, Pfister said he’d help ferry more than 20 people to the hospital in recent days. “Things are going well, though just waiting to come home,” he wrote.

Sgt. Adam Plumondore, 22, of Gresham, Or., a sniper with the Stryker brigade, was killed Feb. 16, 2005, by a roadside bomb exploding near his vehicle in Mosul. Plumondore, a multi-spot athlete at Gresham High School, hoped one day to get a college education and become a police officer, his parents told the Associated Press.

Army Pfc. Jerome J. Potter, 24, of Lakewood, died May 3 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He had been in Iraq since October. Potter served with the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Tex.

Potter grew up around Fort Lewis attending Yelm High School before joining the Job Corps and earning a GED. He worked as a forestry firefighter before joining the Army and hoped to use his GI Bill money to become a park ranger.

His mother, Holly Burson of Yelm, told The News Tribune she had spoken with her son two weeks earlier.

“He said it was getting pretty brutal, and that he didn’t think he was coming home. I told him ’you’re coming home, you’re coming home. Don’t talk like that.’

“He was a spectacular kid," his mom said. "He had a lot of challenges in his life, a difficult childhood, but he overcame them. He had his whole life mapped out and he was following it to a T."

In addition to his mom Potter is survived by sisters Amber Burson and Bobbi Jo Hinton.

Pfc. Willard M. Powell III, 21, of Evansville, Ind., died Aug. 16, 2007, in Balad, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked using small arms fire during combat operations in Taramiyah. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. Kerchief joined the Army in February 2006, and left with the Stryker brigade for Iraq in April 2007.

Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb J. Powers, 21, of Mansfield, was killed Aug. 17, 2004, in enemy action in Al Anbar Province. Powers enlisted in 2001 shortly after graduating from Mansfield High School, one of a class of only 11 students in the small farming town of 300 people. Reared by an aunt and uncle, Powers had achieved some national recognition for his inspirational life story. He spent part of his childhood growing up under the auspices of ChildHelp USA, a non-profit national organization geared to helping kids from troubled families, and wanted to help them one day.Powers was a rifleman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Pendleton.

Cpl. Michael Avery Pursel, 19, of Clinton, Utah, died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Pursel served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Spc. David Ramsey, 27, of Tacoma, died Sept.7 of still undisclosed noncombat injuries. He had served with Fort Lewis’s 47th Combat Support of Hospital, 62nd Medical Brigade.

Marine Capt. Gregory A. Ratzlaff, 36, of San Diego died Aug. 3, 2004, in an accidental shooting at Forward Operating Base Duke, Iraq. Ratzlaff, a 14-year veteran, was assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego. He is survived by his wife in San Diego and his parents, Gary and Kathleen Ratzlaff, who moved to Olympia after he joined the service.

Staff Sgt. Steven C. Reynolds, 32, of Jordan, N.Y., and Pfc. Marc A. Delgado, 21, of Lithia, Fla., both Fort Lewis soldiers from the 170th Military Police Co., 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd MP Brigade, were killed Nov. 24, 2005, by a roadside bomb that flipped their Humvee into a canal.

Marine Sgt. Yadir Reynoso, 27, of Wapato, killed Aug. 5, 2004, by hostile fire in Najar, Iraq. Reynoso joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Wapato High School in 1997. A mortarman, he went to Iraq in May as part of Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 11th Marine Expedetionary Unit, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Parents, Jose and Gloria Reynoso; son Yadir Elias Jr., 4, lives in Yakima with Reynoso’s ex-wife.

Cpl. Demetrius Lamont Rice, 24, of Ortonville, Minn., Army Stryker Brigade, Fort Lewis, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He died July 14, 2004, in Talafar, 45 miles from Mosult in Northern Iraq with Pfc. Jesse Jack Martinez when their Stryker vehicle rolled as the driver tried to avoid another vehicle. Rice, the oldest of five children, joined the Army in 2001. His mother, Valerie Rice of Appleton, Minn., said her son didn’t finish high school and had few job prospects, so he joined the Army in 2001 because “he said he wanted to be somebody. Somebody special." He had planned to marry his high school sweetheart next year, move to Seattle to start a family, and re-enlist.

Sgt. Kenneth Levi Ridgley, 30, of Olney, Ill., a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, was killed March 30, 2005, when he was shot during an enemy attack that erupted while he dismounted a Stryker vehicle to check a suspicious vehicle.

Spc. James D. Riekena, 22, of Redmond, Wash., died Jan. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Riekena was assigned to the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, Post Falls, Idaho.

Marine Staff Sgt. David Ries, 29, Vancouver, Wash., was killed Nov. 8, 2004, when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, part of a convoy traveling west of Fallujah. A 10-year veteran and Marine reservist, Ries had volunteered for a second tour of duty and was attached to the 1st Force Service Support Group based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He is survived by his wife, Mandy, and sons Bailey, 4, and Cameron, 2.

Marine Cpl. Steven A. Rintamaki, 21, Lynnwood, died Sept. 16 in combat in Anbar province. A member of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based in Camp Pendleton, Rintamaki had been in Iraq three months. An adopted child, he only recently had been reunited with his birth parents before leaving for the war. Mother, Mira Rintamaki, Lynwood. Siblings Tiarrah and Lindsay, brother in law Kevin Reed, and many half-siblings. Biological mother, Stacie Swinson, Tacoma. Biological father, Tim Tipps, Seattle.

Army Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins, 27, killed Feb. 9, 2004, in an "improvised device" explosion while patrolling in a Humvee in the Mosul region of northwest Iraq. First combat-related Stryker death. He was a cavalry scout with the Stryker Brigade's 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Lewis. He was buried on what would have been his 28th birthday. He was laid to rest Feb. 18 amid the snowy fields of Saratoga National Cemetery near his home in New York. Brother: Joseph Robbins.

Army Cpl. Michael M. Rojas, 21, of Fresno, Calif. of Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was killed Apr. 18 in Tajit by a roadside bomb during combat operations. He was a member of the brigade’s 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment.

Staff Sgt. Vincenzo Romeo, 23, of Lodi, N.J., died May 6, 2007, in Baqubah when a powerful bomb buried in the roadway destroyed his Stryker vehicle. Romeo served in the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of six soldiers from the unit died in the attack.

Marine Cpl. Randal Rosacker, 21, San Diego, son of a Bangor Trident submarine sailor. One of nine Marines killed in fighting near Al Nasiriyah, 230 miles southwest of Baghdad, on March 25, 2002. Funeral in Colorado, his birthplace. Parents: Rod and Brooke Rosacker. Wife: Debra, San Diego. No children.

Spc. Cristian Roya-Gallego, 24, of Loganville, Ga., was killed Aug. 2, 2007, in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. Two fellow soldiers died in the attack. All three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis.

Spc. Isela Rubalcava, 25, of El Paso, Tex., died May 8, 2004, in Mosul, when a mortar round landed near her. Rubalcava, who joined the Army in 2000, was a supply technician with the 296th Combat Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Lewis. A 1996 graduate of Canutillo High School, Rubalcava was the second female soldier with ties to Washington state to die in Iraq. Parents, Ramon and Maria Isela Rubalcava, El Paso.

Spc. Jose L. Ruiz, 28, of Brentwood, N.Y., a member of Fort Lewis’s 25th Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, was killed by a drive-by shooter in Mosul on Aug. 15, 2005. Ruiz had urged his wife Alexa to move back to Manhattan with her parents, not wanting her to be left alone at Fort Lewis. Ruiz joined the Army in 2003. He called home almost every day to reassure his parents, telling them “this is where I’m meant to be.” Survivors include 9-month-old daughter, mother Juliana King and stepfather Eduardo King.

Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar, 21, Long Beach, Calif., was killed Feb. 4, near Mosul, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee. Martinez Salazar was a member of Company A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enghancement Brigade from Fort Lewis. Part of the unit’s mission is to clear roads of explosive devices.He is the 71st Fort Lewis soldier to die in Iraq. His mother lives in Mexico.

Spc. Eric D. Salinas, 25, of Houston, Texas, was killed Aug. 2, 2007, in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. Two fellow soldiers died in the attack. All three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis.

Cpl. Junior Cedeno Sanchez, 20, of Miamia, Fla., an infantryman, was posthumously promoted from private first class after he died. Sanchez joined the Army Nov. 9, 2005. He reported to Fort Lewis in June, 2006 with the 4th Brigade’s 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment. He was killed Memorial Day, May 28, 2007, by a roadway bomb.

Pfc. Oscar Sanchez, 19, Modesto, Calif., a member of Fort Lewis’s 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, killed Dec. 29, 2004, in Mosul when a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into his observation post. He died two days before his first wedding anniversary and was making plans to come home on leave in February to celebrate with his wife, Tiffany.

Staff Sgt. Fernando Santos, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, was killed Aug. 2, 2007, in Baghdad by a roadside bomb. Two fellow soldiers died in the attack. All three were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis.

Spc. Jonathan Santos, 22, of Bellingham, died Oct. 16, 2004, when an explosion hit his vehicle during combat operations. An Arabic linguist with the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.C., Santos graduated from Sehome High School in 2001. He arrived in Iraq Sept. 7 and turned 22 Sept. 23. Survived by his mother, Doris Kent, of Bellingham; stepfather, Christopher Kent; and father, Leslie Santos of Wisconsin.

Army Pvt. Anthony J. Sausto, 22, of New Jersey and Lake Havasu City, , Az., died May 10 in Baghdad from enemy small-arms fire. He was the first casualty suffered by the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. It is Fort Lewis’s newest Stryker Brigade and deployed to Iraq. A shy, skinny kid who dropped out of high school and worked modest jobs, Sausto felt he’d found his future in the Army, where he earned a GED he was eager to learn and move up the ranks.

The youngest of three siblings, he enlisted in the Army in February 2006, a few months after moving from New Jersey to Arizona to be closer to his mother and older sister.

"He loved (the Army). He found his calling in it and felt like this was something he should be doing," the Star Ledger reporters his sister-in-law, Mary Olivo-Sausto, of Absecon, as saying. “This was what he was going to do for the rest of his life. This was his dream."

Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, of Jacksonville, Ark., was killed May 28, 2005, in Mosul by a roadside bomb explosion near his secuirty position. Sayles served with the 25th Infantry Division’s Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Scheibner, 40, of Muskegon, Mich., died Aug. 30, 2007, in Al Noor, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Striker Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis.

Cpl. Peter William Schmidt, 30, of Eureka Calif. died Nov. 13, 2007 in Mukhisa, Iraq of wounds suffered when an IED detonated during dismounted combat operations. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade., 2d Infantry Division. Fellow soldiers, Sgt. Christopher R. Kruse and Sgt. Kenneth R. Booker were killed by the same attack.

Spc. Jeremiah W. Schmunk, 20, of Richland, Wash., died July 8, 2004, in Baghdad when his vehicle came under attack by rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire. Schmunk, a 2002 Warden High School graduate who would have been 21 in August, was assigned to the Company C, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 1st Calvalry, Washington National Guard, Moses Lake. His mother, Shirley of Kennewick, works as a bus driver trainer for the Kennewick School District. His father, Wesley, died in 1996. He was their only child.

Staff Sgt. Coby G. Schwab, 25, a Henderson, Nev. who made Puyallup his home, was killed May 3 when he and Spc. Kelly B. Grothe's armored personnel carrier struck a roadside bomb. Their unit had been sent to Iraq to clear roadside bombs. Schwab was an Army Reserve soldier assigned to Company B, 321st Engineer Battalion based in Hayden Lake, Id.

Schwab’s family said he and Grothe were trying to pull a Humvee hit by a bomb, which had injured five soldiers, to safety when they died.

Schwab’s mother, Jane Hanson, a florist at an Albertson’s store, and his stepfather, Don, a former airman, told the Las Vegas Journal Review he was inside the damaged vehicle and had just climbed out when the second bomb exploded, killing him.

Schwab, a high school honor student, was on his second tour of duty to Iraq. He served on active duty in 2004 with a Fort Lewis’ Stryker brigade. He returned to live in the Fort Lewis area, and joined the Army Reserve unit as a combat engineer. He married a Fort Lewis soldier in 2006, but they divorced in April 2007.

Pfc. Kerry D. Scott, 21, of Mount Vernon, died Oct. 6, 2003. One of two soldiers killed while on a combat patrol when their convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in Iskandariyah, Iraq. Parents: David Scott and Paula Hartzell.

1st Lt. Aaron N. Seesan, 25, of Massilon, Ohio, was killed May 22, 2005, in Mosul when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle. Seesan, burned over 80 percent of his body, fought for life and was flown to Germany, but died because of damage to his lungs. He was assigned to the 73rd Engineer Company. Survived by his parents, Thomas and Chiquita Seesan; brother Michael, 28; sisters Rachel, 20, Rebekah, 12.

Sgt. Jeffrey R. Shaver, 26, Maple Valley, died May 12, 2004, in Baghdad when a roadside bomb detonated. Shaver was the first state National Guardsman to be killed in Iraq. He was a medic with the H&H Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Armor Brigade that was mobilized in November and deployed in March 2004. Mother, Jane Shaver, Maple Valley; father, John Shaver, Coulee Dam.

Marine Maj. Kevin Shea, 38, formerly of Seattle (1984 graduate of Bishop O’Dea High School; died Sept. 15, 2004, his birthday, in an attack by Sunni insurgents in Anbar province. Shea was a communication information officer with the 1st Marine Division based in Camp Pendleton. An Air Force Academy graduate, Shea, who lived in Washington, D.C., coached rugby while teaching engineering at the Naval Academy. Wife, Ami. Two children ages 7 and 10.

Sgt. Stephen R. Sherman, 27, Neptune, N.J., a chemical operations specialist with Fort Lewis’ Stryker brigade, was killed Feb. 3, 2005, when a roadside bomb detonated near the Stryker vehicle in which he rode. A 2001 graduate of the University of Oregon in business administration, Sherman joined the Army in April 2003. He is survived by his parents, Bernadette Sherman of Neptune; Richard W. Sherman of Great Falls, Va.., brothers, Eddie and Danny, and sister, Caitlin.

James R. Shull, 32, an Army captain with family connections to Bothell, died Nov. 17, 2003, of a non-hostile gunshot wound when a soldier's weapon accidentally discharged. Widow: Alice. Children: Ashley, 7; Jacob, 5; Alisa, 1.

Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides, 22, of Yakima, Wash. died May 31, 2004, from hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, near Fallujah. A 2001 Yakima Alternative School graduate, Sides was a wrecker driver assigned to 9th Communications Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Buried Tahoma National Cemetery on June 12. Parents, John Sides and Wendy Billings. Step-mom, Nancy Sides.

Staff Sgt. Juan M. Soloria, 32, of Dallas, was killed March 4, 2005, when a bomb exploded near his vehicle in Mosul as it came under attack by enemy forces. Solorio, a member of the 25th Infantry Division Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis, had been a sniper instructor at the post before deploying in October 2004. Survived by wife Gabby, children Julian, 11, and Maxmilian, 8.

Sgt. Danny R. Soto, 24, of Houston, Tex., died on June 16, the day before Fathers’ Day, when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in Rashidiyah. Spc. Zachary Grass, 22, Canton, Oh., was also killed in the attack. The two served with the 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis. The brigade deployed to Iraq in April.

Army Pfc. Nathan E. Stahl, 20, of Highland, Ind., assigned to Fort Lewis-based 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, died Sept. 21, 2004, when his vehicle was struck by a bomb.

Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Starr,, 22, Snohomish was killed in combat by small arms fire on Memorial Day, May 30, 2005, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.Survived by parents Brian and Shellie Starr; sisters, Hillary and Emily.

Lance Cpl. Shawn V. Starkovich, 20, of Arlington, Wash., a field wireman, died July 16, 2007, while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar Province. His death remained under investigation. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and deployed with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Forward), II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). He joined the Marine Corps Feb. 22, 2005. Starkovich deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in May 2007.

Spc. John R. Sullivan, 26, of Illinois with family ties to Federal Way, died Nov. 15, 2003, in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Mosul, Iraq. Widow: Katrina. Twin infant sons: Gaven and Aiden.

Sgt. Robert Allen Surber, 24, of Inverness, Fla., died June 3, 2007, in Tahia when a bomb blew up near his Humvee. Surber was one of four members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Stryker Brigade killed in the attack.

Lance Cpl. Shane Clanin Swanberg, 24, of Kirkland, died Sept. 15, 2005, in what the military called “an explosion resulting from indirect fire,” an enemy mortar attack, on Forward Operating Camp Ramadi in volatile Al Anbar province. Swanberg was a 2000 Juanita High School graduate and joined the Marines in 2002. He wrote his mom on Sept. 14, telling her be was to depart on his first mission the next day, but he was killed. Survivors include is parents Brian and Lori Swanberg, brother Travis, 21, a Fort Lewis soldier, and sister Nicole.

Sgt. Nathaniel T. Swindell, 24, of the Bronx in New York City, a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, died Jan. 15, 2005, in Mosul when a firearm carried by an an Iraqi National Guardsman accidentally discharged into his back beneath his protective armor. He is survived by his wife, Sabrina, 19, parents, Vernon and Kim, and siblings.

Sgt. Matthew L. Tallman, 30, Groveland, Calif., was one of four members of the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry from Fort Lewis killed Aug. 22, 2007, near Kirkuk when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed due to apparent mechanical failure. Ten other soldiers died with them.

Staff Sgt. Ioasa F. Tavae Jr., 29, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, died in Mosul April 2, 2005, after his unit was attacked with small-arms fire. Tavae was with the Army’s 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Stryker Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. Tavae was the 24th service member from the 1st Brigade Stryker group to be killed in Iraq since it arrived there in October. He was the 53rd soldier from Fort Lewis to be killed there since the 2003 invasion.

Staff Sgt. Jacob M. Thompson, 26, of North Mankato, Minn., died Aug. 6, 2007, along with three fellow soldiers when a bomb exploded, destroying the house they were clearing in Baqouba. All four served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

Pfc. Nils G. Thompson, 19, of Confluence, Pa., killed by a sniper while on patrol at an Iraqi police station in Mosul on Aug. 4, 2005 – a day after his birthday. Thompson was a member of the 24th “Deuce Four” Regiment of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Deeply religious, Thompson met one of his goals in serving his country, and planned to return to work on the 100-acre farm of his parents, Nils M. and Frances Thompson. Also survived by sister Lily, 14.

Spc. Brandon Tobler,19, Gresham, Ore., with the 671st Engineer Co. of the Army Reserve’s 70th Regional Readiness Command based at Seattle’s Fort Lawton, was killed Mar. 22 during a sandstorm when his Humvee collided with another vehicle. Oregon’s first war fatality was also Washington’s. Killed two months shy of his 20th birthday. Tobler enlisted to earn college tuition, dreaming of a career in law enforcement. He loved to ride bikes and hike Portland’s Mount Tabor – and Beck’s beer. He had a talent for mimicking accents, notably French, English and Scottish. “He was part of a valiant, unprecedented and historical movement of U.S. mlitary power,” one soldier wrote to a memorial Web site. “He was a son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, but most of all he was a United States Army Reserve specialist doing what he was asked to do,” his family said in a posted message. Parents: Leon and Gail Tobler.

Staff Sgt. Salamo J. Tuialuuluu, 23, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, also a member of Fort Lewis’s Stryker brigade, died Dec. 4, 2004, with Sgt. David A. Mitts, 24, of Hammond, Ore., when their Stryker vehicle came under enemy fire while traveling in a convoy in Mosul. Tuialuuluu is survived by his wife and 8-month-old daughter.

Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Van Der Horn, 37, of Beaux Arts Village, near Bellevue, died in As Sinia, Iraq, on Jan. 1, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee while on a patrol. Vanderhorn was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. Vanderhorn, born on Flag Day so that a flag always flew on his birthday, was adopted by Bob and Nancy Vanderhorn when he was three months old. He grew up in Beaux Arts, always wanting to be a policeman, fireman, or soldier. “He was a soldier at heart,” his mother said of his calling. His widow and parents recalled his klack for setting people at ease and how he won his troops’ respect leading by example.Van Der Horn enlisted in the Army after graduating from Bellevue High School and served nearly 8 years, pulling duty in Hawaii and Italy, and seeing combat in Bosnia and Sierra Leone. He left a decade ago after seeing little chance for advancement and lived in Tacoma. Vanderhorn served as a reserve police officer in Milton and Ruston, a court marshal in Fife, and with the INS in border control. After the 9/11 attacks, however, he wanted to do more to protect the country, surprised his family by returning to the Army in his mid-30s. He left for Iraq a few weeks after his second son was born on Aug. 8 2005. Van Der Horn last phoned his parents on Christmas, his wife, Teresa, on Dec. 28. They ended the the conversation the way they always did, “I love you, I love you, too, talk to you soon,” she recalled. At 9 a.m on New Year’s Day she heard the knock on the door that all military wives dread. “I still can’t think of all the people, how could this happen to Chris?” she told the PI. She summoned the strength to tell their 5-year-old son. Tere had been an accident in Iraq and daddy had died. Who, the little boy asked, is going to be my daddy now? Wife: Teresa. Children, Max, 5, Liam, 4-months-old, all of Fort Campbell. Parents: Bob and Nancy Vanderhorn. Siblings: Cheryl, 40, Craig, 35. Burial: Tahoma National Cemetery.

Marine Staff Sgt. Abraham George Twitchell, 28, of Yelm, was among seven Marines killed Apr. 2 in Ar Ramadi when their 7-ton truck was rolled over in a flash flood. A 1996 Yelm High School graduate, he joined the Marines and became an armorer. He had been in Iraq only six weeks. Before leaving, he bought Valentines Day and birthday cards to send to his wife. A proud father, he doted on his family. Twitchell left behind his wife, Stephanie, stepsons Zack, 12, and Zane, 8, and the couple’s 8-month-old daughter, Makenzy. Father, Maurice and stepmother, Eileen, Twitchell. Mother, Mary Ann and stepfather, Ray, Ross. Five siblings.

Capt. Corry P. Tyler, 29, Ga., was one of four members of the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry from Fort Lewis killed Aug. 22, 2007, near Kirkuk when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed due to apparent mechanical failure. Ten other soldiers died with them. A 1999 West Point graduate, Tyler was on his third tour of duty to Iraq. He left behind a wife and three children.

Sgt. Iosiwo Uruo, 27, of Agana Heights, Guam, a team leader and Stryker gunner, was killed May 24 Buhriz when his unit came under enemy fire. Uruo was on his first deployment to Iraq. He served s with the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.

On word of his death, Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo issued the following statement:

"My heart goes out to Mr. and Mrs. Isaoshy Uruo, who received the terrible news. Indeed, this news saddens all of us in Guam and especially in their home island of Chuuk. As tightly knit communities, we are bound together by so many family ties and friendships."

Spc. Donald Valentine III, 21, of Orange Park, Fla., died with two other soldiers Sept. 18, 2007 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq when a homemade bomb blew up near them during combat. The other soldiers were Spc. Nicholas P. Olson and Spc. Joseph N. Landry III. The three served with Fort Lewis’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade.

Sgt. Darren D. VanKomen, 33, Bluefield, W.V., supply specialist, 14th Cavalry Regiment, one of six Stryker brigade soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in an Army mess hall near Mosul by a suicide bomber:

Army Sgt. Jason Vaughn, 29, of Luka, Miss., a member of Fort Lewis’s 3rd Stryker Brigade, was killed May 10 in Baqubah by roadside bomb. He was on his second deployment to Iraq, having spent 24 months there over the last four years. His father, Walter, told the Clarion Ledger newspaper that his son had a feeling he would die in Iraq.

“He had an intuition about things and I think he knew what was going to happen. So he spent more time with his mother and family when he was here,” Walter Vaughn said. “While we were talking he said he had seen too many things and had too many close calls, and he got the feeling his luck was running out.

“He really didn’t want to go back, but he had to go because he had friends over there who needed him.”

Chief Petty Officer Patrick L. Wade, 38, of Key West, Fla. was killed July 17, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Salah Ad Din. He served with EODMU 11 from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Pfc. Andrew M. Ward, 25, of Kirkland, died Dec. 5, 2004, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. . A 2003 graduate of Renton Technical College, Ward joined the Army in August 2003 In Iraq. Survived by parents, Estrella O. Tankersley, Kirkland, and the Rev. Donald Ward Sr., pastor of Daystar Baptist Church in Renton.

Cpl. Glenn James Watkins, 42, of Carlsbad, Calif., a member of the Washington National Guard, was killed April 5, 2005, in Baghdad by a car bomb. Watkins, a carpenter and construction worker in civilian life, was a gunner in a Humvee turret when a stationary car bomb laden with explosives blew up near his vehicle. He was born in Idaho Falls and had served in the Navy and Army as well as the California and Washington National Guards. His unit, the 81st Brigade Combat Team, returned after a year in Iraq in March. Watkins was among about 70 who volunteered to remain. He wanted to serve with a former California unit that replaced the Washingtonians. He is survived by his wife Ann of Tacoma and four children.

Spec. David L. Watson, 29, of Newport, Ark., died Sept. 22, 2007, in Iraq, of wounds sustained in a non-combat related accident. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team). The brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2007.

Watson initially entered military service on February 23, 1997. He began his current term of active service on Sept. 25, 2005. After completing advanced individual training in his military occupational specialty of 68W: Health Care Specialist (Combat Medic) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he reported to Fort Lewis on June 22, 2006. Watson’s civilian and military education includes a Bachelor’s Degree (2002).

Spc. Christopher J. Rivera Wesley, 26, of Portland, Ore., died Dec. 8, 2003, in an accident on combat patrol in Iraq when his Stryker vehicle rolled into the Tigris River. He was one of three soldiers to die in the accident. They were the Stryker brigade’s first three fatalities in Iraq.

Spc. Robert F. Weber, 22, Cincinnati, was killed Sept. 30 in a rollover accident near Qayyarah Wet Airfield 30 miles south of Mosul. Weber served with Fort Lewis’s 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. The cause of the rollover remains under investigation.

Army Spc. Michael J. Weisemann, 20, North Judson, Ind.; died May 29, 2004, at Quyarrah Air Base, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. He was assigned to the Army’s 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis.

Sgt. Lucas White, 28, who grew up on the Yakama Nation Reservation , was killed Nov. 6 in Baghdad in a small arms and homemade bomb attack. A Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldier, White left behind his longtime sweetheart and wife of two years, Jennifer, of Moses Lake. A member of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation, White graduated in 1998 from White Swan High School on the Yakama Reservation.

“He was an outstanding young man. He really loved his family. We expected him home, around Christmas. We were looking forward to seeing him," said Lyle Brooks, White’s stepfather.

Instead, White was memorialized in military and American Indian services at Fort Lewis and the Yakama Reservation, then buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Wife, Jennifer.

Mother, Julia Brooks, stepfather, Lyle Brooks. Five siblings.

Spc. Chase Whitham, 21, Salem, Or., died May 8, 2004, Mosul, Iraq, when an electrical current charged the water in a pool he was swimming in. Whitham, a 2000 graduate of Marist High School, was assigned to the 296th Forward Support Battalion, Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based out of Fort Lewis. Parents, Laurie and Mark Whitham, Salem.

Army Spc. Trevor A. Win'E, 22, Costa Mesa, Calif. assigned to 24th Quartermaster Company, Fort Lewis. Died of wounds May 1, 2004, sustained a day earlier when the vehicle in a convoy in which he was riding was hit by an explosive device. Mother and father, Rick and Debbie Win’E, Orange, Calif.

Staff Sgt. Jesse Williams, 25, of Santa Rosa, Calif., a member of Fort Lewis’ 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was killed Apr. 7 in Balad by a sniper.

He had been in Iraq on his second deployment there since Christmas.Santa Rosa Mayor Bob Blanchard, a family friend, said Williams received a Purple Heart medal after he was wounded during a clash with insurgents during his first tour of duty in Iraq. At the time of his death, he was up for a Bronze Star for valor for rescuing two trapped soldiers from a burning vehicle blown up by a roadside bomb three weeks ago.

"He saw the white-hot fire of combat on both his tours. He was right there," Blanchard said. "And you know what? That was Jesse, that’s where he wanted to be."

Williams is survived by his wife, Sonya, and an 11-month-old daughter, Amaya.

Sgt. 1st Class Nathan L. Winder, 32, of Blanding, Utah, died June 26 in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, when he was shot in the neck by enemy gunfire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Lewis, and was serving on a special forces quick reaction force, his family said.

At the time of his death, Winder – who was born in Seoul and adopted at 2 by a family that adopted 8 children, some with special needs – was trying to find a way to help Iraqi children.

“He loved the children in Iraq and carried teddy bears and things to give them. He was trying to help two Iraqi children come to the states for medical attention," his mother, Terri, told the hometown Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.

"The fact that he was abandoned at such an early age affected him all his life," Terri Winder said. "He was very tender, even though he had created a hard shell on the outside. And he laughed a lot."

He was the third son of Terri and Tom Winder to serve in Iraq and had an 11-year-old son by a previous marriage living in New York. Winder called and emailed his wife, Mechelle, who lives in Canada with her sister, nearly every day. His e-mail site was still on her computer while military casualty officers notified her of his death.

"After they left, she wrote him a note, just in case. That’s kind of how you feel about something like this. It just seems so unreal," Terri Winder said.

Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan Wood, 19, Kirkland, was killed in action Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah. A 2003 graduate of Juniata High School, he expressed reservations about the war in e-mails home. He is survived by his parents Rex and DeEtte Wood and a sister.

Pfc. Curtis L. Wooten III, 20, of Spanaway, a tanker with the 77th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division based in Germany, was killed Jan. 4, 2005, in Balad by a roadside bomb exploding near his vehicle. A 2001 graduate of Spanaway Lake High School, Wooten joined the Army to get an education and help his younger siblings. Survived by father, Curtis L. Sr., Junction City, Kan,; mother, Dairyene, Spanaway; four siblings and half siblings.

Army Pfc. Robert Adrian Worthington, 19, of Jackson, Ga., had been in the Army 11 months after earning a GED diploma from the National Guard Youth Challenge program. He last visited his father at Christmas and deployed in Ap