Staff Sgt Kenneth R. Vangiesen
Born: August 3, 2024
Died: July 18, 2024 in Ghazni, Afghanistan
Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Vangiesen of Kane, Pa., died at age 30 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his convoy with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 131st Transportation Company, 213th Area Support Group, Williamstown, Pa. Ken is a 1999 graduate of Kane Area High School. After enlisting in the Pennsylvania National Guard as a fuel and electrical systems repair specialist in 1999, VanGiesen went on to become a heavy-vehicle driver, light-wheeled vehicle mechanic, and armament repairman. Staff Sgt Vangiesen was on his fourth active duty tour. He previously served in Germany from 2002 to 2003, Iraq from 2005 to 2006 with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and 2009 with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. His awards include two Army Commendation Medals, Combat Action Badge, two Iraq Campaign Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation and two Navy Unit Commendations. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He leaves his parents, Thomas A. and Susan J. Proashas VanGiesen, his girlfriend, Erin Sirianni with whom he shared a home, his sister, Amie Gullifer a brother, Matt VanGiesen and his dog, Bandit.
Burial is at Gibbs Hill Cemetery in Ludlow, Pennsylvania
To be updated…
The Staff Sgt Kenneth R. Vangiesen by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
