Facing Our Losses - Afgahnistan

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Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom
Began Oct. 7, 2001. In all, more than 690 troops have been killed, 30 of them with ties to Washington. (Updated June 5, 2009)
(Information compiled from military and media.)

629th to die: Feb. 20, 2009 – Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy P. Davis, 28, of Aberdeen, died of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered a roadside bomb near Bagram, Afghanistan. He was stationed with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, 720th Special Tactics Group, Florida. He had just celebrated his birthday and was coming up on his fifth wedding anniversary. His widow, Meagan Davis, mother of their year-old son, and Davis met while in training at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane. His mother, Sally Sheldon, lives in Aberdeen and his father, Mike Davis, in Ocean Shores. Davis grew up in Montesano, where more than 300 people turned out for his memorial service, filing every bleacher and chair in the high school gym where Davis once wrestled; he graduated in 1999. "He was, mentally, the strongest person I have ever known," said Jesse Huggins, Davis' best friend since Little League. "There are things that in life are so difficult, no one else is willing to volunteer for. He would."

581st to die: Sept. 9, 2008 – Marine 1st Lt. Nicholas A. Madrazo, 25, of Bothell, was killed by a roadside bomb in Parwan province, Afghanistan. Two other Marines and their Afghan interpreter were also killed. Madrazo was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 37, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa. “Nic” Madrazo graduated from Bothell High in 2001 and became a Marine officer through Seattle Pacific University's Navy ROTC program. He volunteered for duty in Afghanistan along with a soldier buddy. Madrazo had long wanted to be a soldier, said his brother Jared. “He would dress up in camouflage for Halloween and watch all the usual war movies that guys like,” Jared recalled. Neighbor and longtime friend Beth Flansburg said “He helped me through all my hard girl times. He always had a smile on his face and wanted to make sure people were happy.” His father Joe Madrazo remembered his son for that always-present smile, too, he said. “We cry and we remember him, but we know he is with our Lord,” Joel Madrazo said.

579th to die: Sept. 9, 2008 – Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Eichmann A. Strickland, 23, of Arlington, Snohomish County, was killed when the vehicle he was driving hit a roadside bomb in Afghnya Valley, Afghanistan. Strickland, who hoped to become a physician's assistant after leaving the Navy, graduated from Lakewood High School in 2001, and joined the Navy, becoming a corpsman. His family said he loved serving and turned down an opportunity for an early discharge from the service in June 2008. He instead extended his term so he could serve in Afghanistan. “He never told me what he did, or what he had to do,” said his mother, Yolly Strickland. “There were just some things you don't share with your mom.” His cousin Chris Sheppard remembered Strickland as “a compassionate guy, dedicated to helping others.” Mother Yolly said he simply “gave his all…[was] never in trouble. He always smiled. He was that kind of person.”

519th to die: June 14, 2008 – Marine Sgt. Michael T. Washington, 20, of Tacoma, was returning from a mission when an improvised explosive device exploded near his Humvee in Farah province. Three other Marines also died. Washington served with Golf Company, 2nd Batallion, 7th Marine Regiment, in Twentynine Palms, Calif. A graduate of Stadium High School, where he played soccer, Washington was a third generation Marine – his father fought in Desert Storm and his grandfather in the Korean War. Young Michael joined up when he was 17, first serving in Iraq where he earned a commendation for bravery. His father Mike, a Seattle firefighter, recalls his son saying “Dad, I want to defend people who can't defend themselves,” as a reason for enlisting. “It's important that everyone knows what a fine man he was,” said the elder Washington. “He was his own person. He loved being a Marine. He had the world at his feet.”

513th to die: May 31, 2008 – Army Pfc. Andrew Shields, 19, from Battle Ground, Clark County, was one of two soldiers killed from the blast caused by a suicide car bomb in Jalalabad. He was serving in eastern Afghanistan with the 173rd Special Troops Battalion (Airborne) and was trained as a medic, following in the footsteps of his father Jon, a Gulf War vet now a Clark County deputy sheriff. “He always liked the idea of jumping out of planes,” Sheild’s cousin Shawna Keyes, 19, said. “He lived for every extreme. When he did something, he didn’t do halfway. He did it fully.” At a funeral service in Vancouver, Mike Gregoire, husband of Gov. Chris Gregoire and a Vietnam vet, said Shields “chose the most difficult path, of being a soldier in war time. Four decades removed, I feel deeply the loss of men I served with who had such bright futures, but whose country called on them to service.”