Hero Stories for June 2009

Staff Sgt. Paul G. Smith, 43, of East Peoria, Illinois, died June 19, 2009, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Staff Sgt. Smith was an Illinois Army National Guardsman assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry, Aurora, Ilinois. </d

Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Melton, 26, of Carlyle, Ilinois, died June 19, 2009, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Staff Sgt. Melton was an Illinois Army National Guardsman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry, Marion, Illinois. </d

Spc. Chancellor A. Keesling, 25, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died June 19, 2009, in Baghdad, Iraq of a non-combat related incident. Spc. Keesling was assigned to the 961st Engineer Company, Sharonville, Ohio. </d

CPT David M. Fraser and I met our Plebe year at West Point on the cross-country team. Dave was the most laid back guy I'd ever met. Not even the rigors of being an NCAA Div I athlete and a civil engineering major phased him. We went on all kinds of adventures together, from our first free weekend away from West Point where we stayed in a $50 a night crack house of a motel in Manhattan to running with the bulls in Spain after graduation. Dave taught Sunday School for all four years at school, ...

Master Sgt. Kevin A. Dupont, 52, of Templeton, Massachusetts, died June 17, 2009, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered March 8 in Kandau, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Master Sgt. Dupont was assigned to the 79th Troop Command, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. </d

Transition teams throughout southern Iraq attended a conference June 12, at Contingency Operating Base Add

Sgt. Joshua W. Soto, 25, of San Angelo, Texas, died June 16, 2009, in Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Sgt. Soto was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss Texas. </d

Capt. Kafele H. Sims, 32, of Los Angeles, California, died June 16, 2009, in Mosul, Iraq, of a non-combat related incident. Capt. Sims was assigned to the 18th Engineer Brigade, Schwetzingen, Germany. </d

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal assumed command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan June 15, vowing that the coalition will prevail despite a struggle he conceded will be "long and har

Spc. Jonathan C. O'Neill, 22, of Zephyrhills, Florida, died June 15, 2009, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered June 2 in Paktya, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Spc. O'Neill was assigned to the 549th Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne) at Fort Stewart, Georgia. </d