Facing Our Losses - Afghanistan

READ THE STORY • SEE THE IRAQ 2003 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2004 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2005 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2006 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2007 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2008 LIST • SEE THE IRAQ 2009 LIST • SEE THE AFGHANISTAN LIST

Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom
Began Oct. 7, 2001. In all, more than 930 troops have been killed, 65 of them with ties to Washington. (Updated Dec. 18, 2009)
(Information compiled from military and media.)

922nd to die: Nov. 19, 2009 – Army Staff Sgt. John James Cleaver, 36, of Marysville, was killed in Zabul province, Afghanistan, when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a truck near where Cleaver was serving as a medic and convoy commander. Cleaver, 36, was on his second deployment to Afghanistan and his fourth deployment to a war zone. Assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, he served in the Army since 2006, and in the Navy for 10 years prior. Divorced, with two sons, Cleaver grew up in the Midwest. He planned to settle in the Seattle area and become a nurse after he retired from service. His commander, Capt. Burton Furlow, remembered him as "one of the most disciplined paratroopers that I have ever had a chance to work with. He always set a standard and ensured that his paratroopers always meet that standard."

920th to die: Nov. 17, 2009 – Army Spc. Joseph M. Lewis, 26, a Fort Lewis Stryker soldier from Terrell, Texas, died in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He enlisted in 2005 and served a yearlong tour in South Korea. He arrived at Fort Lewis in February 2007. Married, with one child, Lewis, according to his family, enjoyed "staying in shape, playing video games, building miniatures, watching ‘Family Guy’ and ‘South Park,’ and spending every spare moment with his love and new wife Teresa." At his memorial service, Lt. Col. William Clark said Lewis "understood that as a cavalry man, you have to keep moving forward; as a cavalry man, you have to saddle up."

914th and 915th to die: Nov. 5, 2009 – Army Spc. Aaron S. Aamot, 22, of Custer, Whatcom County, and Spc. Gary L. Gooch Jr., 22, of Ocala, FL, both Fort Lewis Strykers, died in Jelewar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Both were assigned to the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Aamot, a graduate of Ferndale High, was one of eight Aamot children. He joined the military shortly after his high-school graduation, said his brother Matt, seeing the army as a stepping stone to a career in law enforcement. Only days before his death, Aaron had been home on leave for a two-week visit, for which the family is thankful, said Matt. "Everyone is taking it hard, but we're Christians, so it's a temporary interlude until we see him again. Our faith will help us out." Gooch was raised in south Florida and graduated in 2006 from Dunnellon (FL) High School. "We grew up with mom playing all these World War II videos," said his sister Keely Murphy, who until mid-2009 also served in the Army and did tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We both wanted to serve our country. We both knew that would be the only way to make something of ourselves because mom did the best she could, but we just didn't have the money for college. He was supposed to come home in a week...He told Mom he wanted to go snowboarding and horseback riding."

898th, 899th, 900th, 901st, 902nd, 903rd, 904th and 905th to die: Oct. 27, 2009 – Seven Fort Lewis Stryker soldiers – Army Pfc. Christopher Ian Walz, 25, of Vancouver; Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y., Sgt. Fernando De La Rosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas, Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind., Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, Mo., Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La., and Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, Ill. – were killed when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device in the Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan. All were assigned to the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis, and their bodies greeted at Dover Air Force Base by President Obama. In a separate incident, Pfc. Brian R. Bates, 20, of Gretna, La., also a Fort Lewis Stryker soldier, was killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar. Walz played football at Hudson's Bay High School, where he graduated in 2002 and attended Clark College. "One goal he had was to become a police officer;," recalled ex-teacher Richard Sharp. "He went into the military for that." Said his former wife Katrina, "Everybody loved him. He had lots of friends. I don't know a single person who didn't like him. He got along with everybody." Gonzalez, married, with one child, enlisted in the Army in 2001 and, according to his mother Bienvenida Gonzalez, was a "good boy." Queens Borough President Helen Marshall called Gonzalez "a highly-decorated Green Beret who was the recipient of 23 medals and citations - one of which was the Bronze Star, His death in the line of duty while leading his squad on a patrol in southern Afghanistan defines the word hero." De La Rosa, married, with two children, was on his third tour of duty in the Middle East. "If you look at my brother he was just like our leader....he was leader to other military personnel...to us he was our leader," said brother Rolando de La Rosa. Griffin was the son of a Mormon bishop, a champion wrestler and college student who was struggling to find his way in the world when he turned to the military, his family said. When his body arrived back in the U.S., his parents met with President Obama at Dover AFB. "He was a hard-core kid, and no matter how much you required from him, he was always able to deliver," recalled his prep wrestling coach Steve Joseph. "When everyone else was getting down ... he was [saying], ‘We can do this. Come on.'" Jackson, married, with one child and another on the way, had a troubled childhood, but grew up to become a responsible father and soldiers, his family said. They proudly noted that the Missouri governor ordered state flags flown at half staff in honor of his memory. Williamson's father, Leon "Buddy" Williamson, said his son was the first member of his family to enlist. "At the end of the day, he was doing what he wanted," Williamson said. "He's wanted to join the Army and be in the infantry since fifth grade....Patrick lays claim to a badge of honor that very few people can lay claim to: having served his country honorably and well." Stanker enlisted in 2006, in Chicago, shortly after graduating from Brother Rice High School, and began his training in Fort Benning, Ga. In March 2007, he was assigned to the 5th Stryker Brigade. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," Stanker posted on his Facebook page. Bates, married, with two children, "was hard-working, sure of himself," recalled Staff Sgt. David Gutierrez, one of his friends. "He would always accomplish the task at hand." Bates was also remembered as a devoted father and husband. "You could hear the pride in his voice whenever he spoke of his children," Gutierrez said.