1,159th to die: July 3, 2010 – Army Pfc. Jacob A. Dennis, 22, a Fort Lewis Stryker soldier from Powder Springs, Ga., died at Landstuhl Medical Center, Landstuhl Germany of injuries sustained in a weapons system accident at Forward Operating Base Lane, in Zabul Province, Afghanistan; The incident is under investigation. Dennis was assigned to the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He graduated from North Cobb Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga., where he played soccer and ran track. He also was involved in theater and the school band and was a member of the youth ministry at Roswell Street Baptist Church. He attended culinary school at Chattahoochee Tech before enlisting in the military in 2006. He met his wife, Allysha, while stationed at Fort Lewis. Said his aunt Beth Wright, “You couldn’t meet him and not love him. I never in my life can remember a time where Jacob had a bad attitude about anything.”
1,133rd to die: June 22, 2010 – Marine Cpl. Joshua R. Dumaw, 23, of Spokane Valley, died while supporting combat operations in Nimruz province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. According to his family, Dumaw was with his platoon securing an area in southwestern Afghanistan when he stepped on a hidden bomb. Dumaw was a graduate of West Valley High. His wife was pregnant with the couple’s first child, and he’d planned to return home in a few months for the birth. The couple had decided to name the boy Bode Alexzandyr Dumaw, so that his initials would be BAD. "He was very proud of what he was doing, serving his country," said Stacie McGarvey, a family friend. Another friend, Ashley Byrd, said Dumaw was known for helping out others. "He was the nicest guy I ever met. He would always have a smile on his face," Byrd said. "He’s going to be loved and missed by everybody."
1,083rd to die: May 22, 2010 - Army Spc. Jason D. Fingar, 24, a Stryker soldier from Columbia, Missouri died in Durai, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when his military vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (he was posthumously promoted to his present rank). He was assigned to the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis. He was deployed to Afghanistan in July 2009 and due to return home June 30. "I will always remember Jason Fingar as a young man of remarkable integrity and endless courage," said fellow soldier Aaron Estabrook. "Even in his brief life he made the world a better place, and those that encountered his smile will never forget him." Friends recalled Finger as a serious musician who played guitar and piano, and wanted to learn to play other instruments. Another soldier buddy, Corey Phan said Fingar and the other members of the platoon talked constantly about their love of music. "He and his dad both played guitar over at the Salvation Army," recalled neighbor Danette Knedler. "His dad had a guitar waiting for him for when he came home" for his last visit.
1,082nd to die: May 19, 2010 – Army Staff Sgt. Shane S. Barnard, 38, a Fort Lewis soldier from Desmet, S.D., died in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when he stepped on a secondary improvised explosive device. He was assigned to explosives disposal duties with the 3rd Ordnance Battalion, and was working to defuse another device when the second bomb exploded. Barnard, who served in the 1990s and re-enlisted in 2005, and was on his second deployment in Iraq. His mother Lois Jones said her son attended grade school in Havre, Montana and high school in Great Falls before graduating at a school in Italy. Barnard, originally trained as a combat medic, was married and had three children.
1,060th to die: May 6, 2010 – Army Spc. Wade A. Slack, 21, a Fort Lewis soldier from Waterville, Maine, died at Jaghatu, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using rockets or mortars. He was assigned to explosives disposal duties with the 3rd Ordnance Battalion. Slack enlisted out of high school in 2007 and was on his first deployment to Iraq. He couldn't be with his family for his 20th birthday, recalls sister Meghan Slack, so he asked his family to hold a party without him back home. "That was Wade," she said. "He made people feel special and loved." A friend, Sgt. James Cribbett, recalled Slack's good sense of humor. At Slack's funeral, attended by Maine's governor, Cribbett recalled how Slack and his unit slogged through a heavy rain, slipping and sliding as they climbed a mountain in Afghanistan. "This," said Wade, turning to his sergeant, "wasn't in the brochure."
1,055th to die: May 2, 2010 – Army Master Sgt. Mark W. Coleman, 40, of Yelm, Thurston County, died when an improvised device exploded during a patrol in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. He grew up in the farmlands of south central Washington and in 1998 graduated from Goldendale High. He loved his friends and his cars, said his mother, Alice Eshelman, but "he wasn't the best student - unless he was studying something that really interested him." Coleman was married and had two children, and was devoted to military service. The family was told he died trying to protect his troops during a firefight. "He was always more concerned about his troops than himself," said Eshelman."They were young and green, and he always talked about wanting to be sure to get them home safely."
