Freedom Remembered

Birth: September 25, 1983 – Costa Rica
Died: April 20, 2004 – Tallil, Iraq

Pfc Harris Kelly was assigned to the 596th Maintenance Company, 3rd Corps Support Command, V Corps, Darmstadt, Germany. He was killed from chest injuries when his truck went off the road and rolled over because of limited visibility and dangerous driving conditions. Leroy came to this country when he was 3 years old and graduated in 2001 from Azusa High School in Azusa, California where he played basketball, the trumpet in the school band and was the honorary class clown. Leroy received the Bronze Star and Overseas Service ribbon posthumously.

Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Covina Hills, California

Birth:
Died: October 18, 2009, Mosul, Iraq

Pfc Rivera was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. He died of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Daniel was a 2005 graduate of Victor High School in Victor, New York where he played soccer and baseball.

Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, New York

Birth: October 10, 1974 – Yreka, California
Died: October 24, 2003 – Mosul, Iraq

Sgt Hancock was assigned to 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was on guard duty in Mosul keeping watch over a grain storage silo. A group of Iraqis approached him and opened fire. He was evacuated to the 21st Combat Support Hospital and pronounced dead there. Michael joined the Army in 1993 after graduation from Yreka High School because it offered money for college. He planned to make the Army his career.
Burial: Unknown

Birth: November 3, 1983 – Indianapolis, Indiana
Died: June 7, 2003 – Tikrit, Iraq

PFC Halling was assigned to the 401st Military Police Co., Ft. Hood, Texas. He was at his post at a military police station in Tikrit when his unit began taking small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. He was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart and has been nominated for a Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest medal for valor behind the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross.

Burial: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Birth: February 29, 1976 – Greeley, Colorado
Died: September 16, 2003 – Tel Afar, Iraq

Army Spc. Peterson was assigned to C Company, 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She died of a non-combat gunshot wound. The incident occurred near the northwest Iraqi town of Tel Afar, about 50 miles southwest of the Turkish border. Alyssa graduated from Northern Arizona University in May 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. During her time there, she also attended the Flagstaff Institute of Religion, a theological training center for members of the Mormon faith. Alyssa was an honor student, soccer player, artist, and devout Mormon. She was fluent in Dutch, then, she cruised through her Arabic courses at the military’s Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, shortly after enlisting in July 2001.

Burial: Citizens Cemetery, Flagstaff, Arizona

Birth: May 27, 1980 – Honolulu, Hawaii
Died: December 26, 2003 – Iraq

Spc Haight was assigned to the 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Group, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, as a mechanic. He was killed in action while traveling in a convoy when his vehicle struck a makeshift bomb. He was a graduate of Pleasant Valley High School in Jacksonville, Alabama in 1998 where he played clarinet in the band and was a member of the football team. Following high school, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and later joined the Army full time. He was eager to earn money for college, through the G.I. Bill, and fulfill his dream of becoming a nurse. When he went to Iraq, he carried her stuffed chipmunk with him.

Burial: Unknown, cremated

Born: August 13, 1982
Died: November 15, 2003 in Mosul, Iraq

Pfc. Richard W. Hafer of Cross Lanes, West Virginia attended Laurel Valley High School where the 6′ 5″, 275 pounder was a standout defensive lineman. In 2000, he was voted Lineman of the Year on the All-Gazette football squad. He was also an outstanding wrestler. After graduating in 2000, Rick moved to Nitro, West Virginia so he could be reunited with his half-sisters whom he adored. He enlisted in the United States Army and while serving overseas he was looking forward to a surprise trip to West Virginia for Christmas to see his sisters, and other family. Richard was killed at age 21 when two 101st Airborne Division UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul, Iraq. He was posthumously awarded, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Army
1st Battalion
320th Field Artillery
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Burial is at Blairsville Cemetery in Blairsville, Pennsylvania

Birth: November 14, 1971 – Lead, South Dakota
Died: May 9, 2003 – Samarrah, Iraq

Chief Warrant Officer Gukeisen was assigned to the 571st Air Medical Company, Fort Carson, Colorado. His company responded to an urgent call to evacuate an 11 year old Iraqi child who had stepped on a landmine. Two Black Hawks were dispatched from headquarters at an airfield just north of Tikrit and arrived about 20 minutes later at a landing area near Samarrah. Hans was a former Green Beret and was on his first aviation assignment.

Burial: Black Hills National Cemetery, Sturgis, South Dakota – Section A, Site 219

Birth: July 5, 1979 – San Bernardino, California
Died: October 16, 2003 – Karbala, Iraq

Sgt Grilley was assigned to 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He and other soldiers were attempting to negotiate with armed men who were congregating after curfew on a road near a mosque. The Iraqis opened fire killing three soldiers and wounding seven others. Sean grew up in southern Orange County and attended Mission Viejo High School where he met his wife, Luciana. Sean joined the Army in 2001 and served in the Joint Security Area at Camp Bonifas, Korea, before reporting to Fort Campbell and the 194th MP Co. He was a team leader in 2nd Platoon and although a graduate of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection process, he chose to stay with his unit to deploy to Iraq.

Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California – Section 47, Site 482

Birth: January 10, 1986 – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Died: August 17, 2009 – Baghdad, Iraq

Spc Hastings was assigned to the 582nd Medical Logistics Company, 1st Medical Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command, Fort Hood, Texas. He died of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. Matthew graduated in 2005 from Broken Arrow Alternative Academy in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He joined the Army on August 8, 2006 as a light-wheel vehicle mechanic. Matthew was proud of how far he had come and what he had accomplished in the military. It wasn’t always easy for him with the choices he had made, but he found a path with the Army and enjoyed the structure it provided. He received several awards and decorations, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service and the Good Conduct Medal for exemplary behavior, efficiency and fidelity.

Burial: Ridgelawn Cemetery, Collinsville, Oklahoma