SFC Raymond John Munden
Born April 23, 1973 in Bell County Texas
Died Feb. 6, 2009 in Paktika, Afghanistan
Sgt. 1st Class Raymond J. Munden, 35, of Mesquite, Texas. He was born in an Army hospital at Fort Hood, the second of 2 sons born to Ralph and Billie Munden. His parents divorced when he was 13 and he moved to Mesquite with his mother where he graduated in 1991 from Mesquite High School. He enlisted in the Army in August 1991, following family military tradition. His father did 2 tours of duty in Vietnam and his brother served in the Navy. Raymond arrived at Fort Campbell in January 2002, and also was assigned duties across the world, serving at Fort Drum, Somalia, 2 tours of duty in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan. He was scheduled to return home in March 2009 and begin working as an instructor at the US Military Academy at West Point. While stationed at Fort Drum, Raymond met the love of his life, Kelly Koshofer, and they wed in September of 2000. He was currently assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. He died at Forward Operating Base Tillman in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using indirect fire. His awards and decorations include: National Defense Service Medal (2 awards); Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon (2 awards); Army Commendation Medal (4 awards); Army Achievement Medal (6 awards); Army Good Conduct Medal (5 awards); Bronze Star Medal; Army/Air Force Presidential Unit Citation; Army Superior Unit Award; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Arrowhead Device; Afghanistan Campaign Medal Combat Service; Iraq Campaign Medal Combat Service; Humanitarian Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon (2 awards); NATO Medal; Basic Recruiter Badge-Silver; Combat Infantry Badge (2 awards); Expert Infantry Badge; Air Assault Badge; Weapons Qualification, M4, Expert. Raymond is buried in Pine Lawn Cemetery in Cheektowaga, New York.
The SFC Raymond John Munden by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
