Freedom Remembered

Born: September 23, 1983
Died: September 23, 2011 in Wardak, Afghanistan

Sgt. Rafael E. Bigai Baez of San Juan, Puerto Rico died at age 28 in Wardak, province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La. He joined the Army in October 2003. He arrived at Fort Polk in June, 2010. Bigai Baez deployed to Kuwait from December 2004 to December 2005. He deployed to Afghanistan with his unit in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2010. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, three Army Achievement Medals, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Non Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, two Overseas Service Ribbons, the NATO Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He completed the Warrior Leadership Course and the Combatives Level 1 course.

Burial is at Cementerio del Ingenio in Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic

To be updated…

The Sgt. Rafael E. Bigai Baez by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.