Global War On Terror fallen deserve honor, not excuses

There is no excuse to block building a memorial to the fallen Global War On Terror service members!

Bill allowing Global War on Terrorism Memorial on National Mall could set bad precedent, senator argues
STARS AND STRIPES
BY NIKKI WENTLING
SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

WASHINGTON — An effort to pass legislation that would allow for the construction of a Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall was blocked Monday out of concern that its passage would be unfair and create a bad precedent for any future memorials.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, asked on the Senate floor Monday evening that her colleagues approve the bill under unanimous consent, meaning the chamber could pass the legislation unless someone stood to object. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., blocked the vote.

This graphic shows three locations in Washington, D.C., where organizers of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation prefer for a new memorial honoring post-9/11 veterans. An effort to pass legislation that would allow for the construction of a Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall was blocked Monday out of concern that its passage would be unfair and create a bad precedent for any future memorials. (Contributed by the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation)

The bill seeks to exempt the Global War on Terrorism Memorial from a 2003 law that prohibits any more development on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

“This legislation would override this provision,” Manchin said. “This precedent would reopen fights to locate other memorials on the National Mall, create conflict, and ultimately delay the construction of this memorial.”

Organizers behind the effort to establish the memorial are renewing their push for it to be located on the National Mall following the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in August.

They held a news conference Tuesday in front of the U.S. Capitol, urging Congress to consider the bill.

“We’re at a significant moment in the history of the Global War on Terrorism,” said Marina Jackman, an Army veteran and the president of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. “Service members and their families are asking themselves what their service means. Now more than ever, the service member and veteran community needs a place to gather, reflect and heal.”
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According to CNN this memorial will be paid by private donations and according to the act, the power is up to the committee to do it. 

Lyn Schultes Franco, a spokesperson for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, says a national competition is possible but has not been confirmed yet as the design process.

The Global War on Terror Memorial Act was signed into law in 2017 by then-President Donald Trump. The bill authorized the creation of the memorial on federal land in Washington, which is to be privately funded, but did not specifically designate where and when it would be built.

The Commemorative Works Committee

§ 9–204.13. Authority of the Committee.
(a) The Committee shall act in an advisory capacity to the Mayor and the Council to:
(1) Develop criteria to be used to review, evaluate, approve, or deny applications for placement of commemorative works on public space in the District;
(2) Review each application for placement of a commemorative work on public space in the District, by considering: the appropriateness of the location, subject matter, and design of the commemorative work, including the aesthetic, environmental, traffic and parking, and financial impacts of the proposal upon the surrounding community and the District; and the sufficiency of the sponsor to fund the construction and maintenance of the commemorative work;
(3) Refer each application for a commemorative work on public space in the District for review and comments by affected advisory neighborhood commissions, by affected District agencies and public utilities, by the Commission on Fine Arts if required by law, by the National Capital Planning Commission if required by law, and by the National Capital Memorial Commission; and
(4) Recommend to the Mayor and the Council a disposition of each application for placement of a commemorative work on public space in the District.

Some say that the Global War On Terror is ongoing and it is too soon for a memorial. Well that is a false argument too. The Vietnam War Memorial was designed to all for additional names to be added because of the wounds that would cause more to die as a result of their service.

From We Are The Mighty

The eligibility dates span Nov. 1, 1955, through May 15, 1975, though the first date on The Wall during its dedication was from 1959. A service member who died in 1956 was added after The Wall was dedicated – and names have actually been added on multiple occasions.

10 more names were added to The Wall in 2012 and the statuses of 12 others were changed. The 10 servicemen came from the Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and Air Force, and died between 1966 and 2011. The Department of Defense determined that all deaths were the result of wounds sustained in Vietnam.

It is time to do the right thing and honor those who paid the price to serve this country as requested by 4 presidents and an endless number of politicians who sent them!  

Nine lost in two days

Seven U.S. service members killed in Iraq helicopter crash
NBC News
by COURTNEY KUBE, RICHARD ENGEL and PHIL HELSEL
March 16, 2018

All seven service members aboard an American military helicopter that crashed in western Iraq late Thursday were killed, according to two U.S. military officials.

The crash of the U.S. HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter does not appear to be a result of enemy activity and the incident is under investigation, U.S. Central Command and military officials said.

"All personnel aboard were killed in the crash," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, the director of operations for the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq and Syria.
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2 FDNY Firefighters Among 7 Killed in U.S. Helicopter Crash in Iraq, Sources Say

An FDNY lieutenant and an FDNY fire marshal were among the seven service members killed when their U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, the FDNY announced Friday evening.

The department identified Lt. Christopher Raguso and Fire Marshal Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis as the 1,148th and 1,149th members of the FDNY to die in the line of duty. read more here

Navy identifies aviators killed in Florida Super Hornet crash
STARS AND STRIPES
By KAT BOUZA
Published: March 16, 2018

The Navy has identified the two pilots killed when their F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the sea near Key West, Fla., Wednesday afternoon.

Lt. Cmdr. James Brice Johnson and Lt. Caleb Nathaniel King — both assigned to the “Blacklions” of Strike Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana — died after the aircraft went down on final approach to Naval Air Station Key West at about 4:30 p.m. The squadron was conducting training in the area at the time.
read more here

UPDATE

Master Sgt. William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Fla

Staff Sgt. Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee

Capt. Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo

Capt. Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, N.Y.

Capt. Christopher T. Zanetis, 37, of Long Island City, N.Y.

Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, N.Y.

Staff Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

Ex-Special Forces Soldier Captured on Video Saving Child

UPDATE 7/19 NEWS REPORT FROM
JOURNAL SENTINEL

Milwaukee Navy SEAL veteran shot while helping humanitarian group rescue girl from ISIS gunfire 
Maddie Koss 
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 
Published 9:21 a.m. CT July 19, 2017 

Check out the story and video here, then look at the one reported a month ago.

Am I out of my mind or is this the same story with different names and dates?

Video shows ex-Special Forces soldier-turned-aid worker dodge ISIS sniper fire to save little girl during battle for Mosul
FOX News 
By Maryse Godden
Published June 19, 2017

A former U.S. Special Forces soldier has been captured on camera braving ISIS gunshots to rescue a young Iraqi girl from the line of fire.

David Eubank, who works as an aid worker, was in the worn-torn northern Iraq city of Mosul when he saved the youngster’s life.

The 56-year-old, who founded the Free Burma Rangers, told the Los Angeles Times he spotted the small child among bodies of dozens of civilians killed by ISIS snipers as they tried to flee.
read more here

Staff Sgt Rob Pirelli Remembered in Song for His LIfe

Hear 'Voice' Singer Barrett Baber's Emotional Tribute to Fallen Soldier
Rolling Stone
By Stephen L. Betts
18 hours ago

Inspired by Pirelli's actions, Baber wrote the song, saying, "When I heard the story of Staff Sgt Rob Pirelli, and how, through the outpost he built to protect his fellow soldiers, his legacy remained long after his ultimate sacrifice, I was moved at the depth of this very personal, human story. I'm proud to have been able to tell his story in song."

Barrett Baber, whose full-throated, Southern rock-tinged vocals took him to a third-place finish on Season Nine of NBC's The Voice in 2015, has released "Still Stands," a powerful song from his album A Room Full of Fighters. Penned by Baber with Kenny Lamb, the tune recounts the brave, inspiring story of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Ryan Pirelli, who was killed in action in Iraq in August 2007, but not before leaving behind a combat outpost that would one day bear his name and inspire a documentary film.

A native of Franklin, Massachusetts, Pirelli volunteered for military service in 2003 as a Special Forces (Green Beret) recruit in the Army. Deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2007, he used his engineering skill to establish an outpost in the dangerous Diyala province. The outpost Pirelli built protected American soldiers from harm during his deployment and continued to protect American troops for several years after he was killed. Remembered by his fellow soldiers not only for his ingenuity, bravery and a thick Boston accent, Pirelli, a hockey enthusiast, also spent time teaching local Iraqi children how to play baseball. After he was killed, the combat outpost was renamed Combat Outpost Pirelli in his honor and a symbol to remember him - a sword, lightning bolts and fire – became part of what his fellow soldiers called "The House That Rob Built."
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Police Searching for Thief of Fallen Soldier TIm Brown Memorial

Reward offered for suspects who stole items from veteran memorial
WWMT News Michigan
Andrew Minegar
October 24, 2016

CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Kent County Sheriff Department is searching for suspects in a series of thefts, including items from an Iraq veteran’s memorial.

Deputies are investigating after a replica rifle, a helmet and dog-tags were taken from the Tim Brown Monument, which honors the memory of a soldier killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, at Memorial Park.
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Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan Died Saving Lives

Navy EOD tech died directing SEALs, Iraqis away from roadside bomb
STARS AND STRIPES
By TARA COPP
Published: October 23, 2016

Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, of Anaheim, California, was identified Friday as the servicemember killed by an improvised explosive device while serving in an advisory role with Iraqi coalition troops.

U.S. Navy photo

IRBIL, Iraq — Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan, the Navy explosives ordinance disposal technician who was the first American killed in the battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, died while warning the forces he was supporting about a roadside bomb, the top commander for U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria said Sunday.

Finan, 34, died on Oct. 20 from injuries sustained when his own vehicle hit a roadside bomb. He was remembered for his sacrifice by both Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander for Operation Inherent Resolve, and Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Irbil on Sunday. The two leaders were in Irbil to discuss the Mosul offensive with members of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
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Vietnam Veteran Searching for Owner of Hard Drive from Iraq

A military mystery found on a hard drive in Lynnwood
Q13 FOx
BY JAMIE TOMPKINS
OCTOBER 19, 2016

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — It’s about 400 megabytes of a soldier’s memories captured on a hard drive.

George Williams says a friend found the beat-up hard drive and traded it to him for a few cigarettes.

“There were pictures of them in camp, pictures of the war, pictures of some cities around there and there were also family pictures. I don’t know if it’s fate. Maybe it was because if it was in somebody else’s hands, they would have wiped everything out and forgotten it,” says Williams.
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Remains of Major Troy Gilbert Returned from Iraq After 10 Years

Remains of Phoenix-area fighter pilot killed in Iraq returned 10 years later
The Republic
Jerod MacDonald-Evoy
October 12, 2016

A U.S. Air Force team carries the remains of Maj. Troy Gilbert at Dover Air Force Base.

(Photo: Senior Airman Aaron J. Jenne/U.S. Air Force)

The remains of an F-16 pilot from Litchfield Park who was killed in Iraq in 2006 have finally been returned, according to the U.S. Air Force.

Maj. Troy Gilbert crashed while leading two other jets in a strafing run against enemy forces that had shot down a helicopter near the town of Taji, Iraq, on Nov. 27, 2006, according to Mike Martin, secretary of Air Force Public Affairs.

Gilbert opted to use a 20-mm gun on his F-16 to help avoid civilian casualties and destroyed one of the trucks that was threatening coalition forces on the ground, according to Martin. On his second approach, he flew even lower and hit the ground, killing him instantly.
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Death of Air Force Lt. Col. Under Investigation

Washington airman dies from non-combat injury in Asia
KING 5 News and Associated Press
August 06, 2016

LANSING, Mich. - A U.S. airman assigned to Washington's Camp Murray has died in southwest Asia from an injury not related to combat.

Lt. Col. Flando Jackson (Credit: Washington Military Department)

The Defense Department says Saturday that Lt. Col. Flando Jackson's death on Thursday is under investigation.

Officials say the 45-year-old Jackson was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military campaign against Islamic State forces and terrorists at war against the governments of Iraq and Syria.
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What if Capt. Khan's Mom Was Your Mom?

Massachusetts Congressman, Veteran Lashes Out at Donald Trump
Beacon Hill Patch
By Alison Bauter (Patch Staff)
August 2, 2016

"As a veteran, I can't imagine what it would be like if Donald Trump treated my mom that way." Rep. Seth Moulton

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton had harsh words for Trump in light of the GOP nominee's attacks on Gold Star Khan family.

Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton had those and other withering words for Donald Trump Tuesday, joining a bipartisan barrage of condemnation in the wake of the Republican presidential nominee's comments toward a family whose son died serving in Iraq.

Trump has been taking heavy fire since critiquing Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Gold Star parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed while serving in Iraq by a car bomber. Khizr Khan spoke against the GOP nominee at this year's Democratic National Convention, prompting harsh words in return from Trump.

Khan and his wife have both condemned Trump, saying he "knows nothing of sacrifice."
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Goodwill Returned Items to Widow Hero

Fallen Soldier's Belongings Found At Goodwill
News Channel 5
Chris Conte
Jul 26, 2016

Sgt. Hawn was 35-years-old when he was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb in 2005. He was a 1989 graduate from LaVergne High School in 1989 The items left at Goodwill were in his wallet the day he died.

Every once in a while Shane Hubanks and his employees at the Mt Juliet Goodwill find something that doesn't belong inside their store.

Such was the case in May when a shopper brought in a small bag to donate, that no price tag could ever do justice.

"I knew these bags were given to people that had passed away, I looked at my manager and said wouldn't this be tragic if that was that if this was someone's personal items that passed away

In the bag was a driver's license, family photos and a dog tag. Inscribed on the tag was Sgt. Asbury Freddie Hawn's name.
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UK:Chilcot Report On Iraq War Due To Be Released

Jeremy Corbyn Labour coup designed to stop him 'calling for Tony Blair's head' after Chilcot report, says Alex Salmond
'It would be a mistake to believe that Chilcot and current events are entirely unconnected. The link is through the Labour Party'
Independent
Ashley Cowburn Political Correspondent
July 4, 2016


Alex Salmond has appeared to suggest the internal Labour party coup against Jeremy Corbyn is connected with the publication of the long-awaited Chilcot report into the Iraq war.

His comments come just three days before the publication of the inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war. Earlier reports have suggested Mr Blair, the former Prime Minister, and his contemporaries will be savaged in an “absolutely brutal” verdict.

In an article for the Herald, the former Scottish First Minister wrote: “It would be a mistake to believe that Chilcot and current events are entirely unconnected. The link is through the Labour Party”

“I have been puzzling as to exactly why the Parliamentary Labour Party chose this moment to launch their coup against Jeremy Corbyn and just what explains the desperation to get him out last week. It can hardly be because of a European referendum where [Mr] Corbyn’s campaigning, although less than energetic, was arguably more visible than that of say the likely big political winner Teresa May?”
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From The Guardian
Tony Blair faces calls for impeachment on release of Chilcot report

The Chilcot report is due to be released on Wednesday 6 July.

Photograph: Chris Jackson/PA

“The reason is 179 British war dead, 150,000 immediate dead from the Iraq conflict, the Middle East in flames, the world faced with an existential crisis on terrorism – these are just some of the reasons perhaps he should understand why people don’t hold him in the highest regard."

“[MPs] believe you cannot have a situation where this country blunders into an illegal war with the appalling consequences and at the end of the day there isn’t a reckoning. There has to be a judicial or political reckoning for that.”

It means individual soldiers could be prosecuted for war crimes but not Blair.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has begun a preliminary examination of claims of torture and abuse by British soldiers, after receiving a dossier from human rights lawyers acting for alleged Iraqi victims.

Leavenworth 10 Soldier Rebuilds Life

'Leavenworth 10' soldier rebuilds life after serving time for infamous 'Iron Triangle Murders'
FOX News
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published June 18, 2016

Among the more well-known cases is that of Army First Lt. Clint Lorance, who is serving a 20-year sentence for ordering his men to shoot two suspected Taliban scouts in July 2012 in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. Lorance had just taken command of the platoon after the prior leader and several others were killed days before by fighters using information provided by scouts.

Corey Clagett, seen here hugging his mother before leaving to begin his prison sentence in 2007, was recently released and is petitioning for a pardon so he can re-enlist.

(Sheryl Levine Guterman )

Corey Clagett was a 21-year-old U.S. Army private in the 101st Airborne Division on a mission deep inside Al Qaeda-controlled territory in Iraq when, he says, he followed an order that would change his life forever.

It was May 9, 2006, and Clagett’s squad had been dropped on to a tiny lake island 200 miles north of Baghdad. They were told it was a terrorist training camp, and members would later testify the rules of engagement were to kill all military-aged males in the area. When they caught three men hiding in a house, the squad’s leader ordered Clagett and three others to let them go – and shoot them as they fled.

“I was just a private. I looked up to the higher officers. We thought they were following the rules,” Clagett, who was released earlier this year after serving 10 years at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., told FoxNews.com. “I followed their orders and thought it was the right call, but it wasn’t the case.”
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Memorial Day tribute was held at VFW Post 4287

A Memorial Day tribute was held at VFW Post 4287 in Orlando.  Some Gave All panels offered a stark reminder of what this day is supposed to be all about.

Published on May 30, 2016
Today at the VFW Post 4287 in Orlando, there was a Memorial Day service. One of the special guest was a Korean War veteran about to celebrate his 95 birthday. What no one expected was that he can tap!

Fallen Remembered On Stairway to Freedom

Stairway to Freedom: Remembering a Fallen Veteran 
WABI News 
Taylor Kinzler 
MAY 26, 2016

“We all have to deal with things of life in general. We have to take one step at a time.” Dixie Flag

As Memorial Day approaches, we pause to remember the men and women who work tirelessly to protect our country.

Every military family has a story.

In strong, a unique memorial is hidden beneath the woods to honor a fallen veteran.

A man who posthumously received the Purple Heart for his second and final tour overseas.

It’s called the Stairway to Freedom.

“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends”

Dixie Flagg is the mom of a fallen veteran.

“Richard. No doubt. Think of him every day. He’s my rock.”

Sergeant Richard Parker was 26 years old when he was killed in Iraq by an IED. Just days after finding out he was going to be a father.

“Why do I want them to remember? I won’t let them forget.”‘

Flags and flowers surround his grave, next to a letter written by Keegan. The son he’ll never meet.

“His son is doing some of the things that Richard was known to do. I caught one the other day, just the way he said something and it was all Richard and Richard had never even met him.”

Just a few miles down the road is a symbol of hope, in the form of steps.
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US Marine Dog Receives High UK Award After 400 Missions

Bomb sniffer dog earns animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross
UK Evening Standard
Lizzie Edmonds
April 5, 2016

PDSA Dicken Medal: Since the introduction of the medal in 1943 it has been awarded to 31 dogs, 32 Second World War messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat.

A military dog who lost a leg when sniffing out a roadside bomb has been awarded the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross after serving in more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lucca receiving her award (Jeremy Selwyn)

Lucca, a 12-year-old German Shepherd, served in the US Marine Corps for six years, protecting the lives of troops by sniffing out munitions.

Her efforts were awarded with the PDSA Dickin Medal, the highest award for animals serving in military conflict.

Lucca is the 67th animal to be honoured in this way and the first US Marine Corps dog to receive the medal.

There were no human casualties during any of her patrols but, in 2012, she lost her leg and suffered chest burns after discovering a home-made bomb in Afghanistan and retired.
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Only The Dead See End Of War--Michael Ware's Darkest Moment

Operation Iraqi Truth: New Documentary Reveals
Why War Is Hell
Michael Ware spent seven harrowing years covering the Iraq War – and he has the scars to prove it
Rolling Stone
By Reeves Wiedeman
March 25, 2016

By 2009, however, another IED attack debilitated Ware's senses of smell and taste – "I get too salty, too sweet, and that's about it" – and he soon realized he had to get out. He moved to Brooklyn, but found himself unable to walk to the corner store, much less work on the book he had a contract to write. He took assignments from CNN that sent him back to conflict zones. Eventually, he went on leave from CNN, citing post-traumatic stress disorder, and never went back. "That's when I started watching the tapes," Ware says.
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Only the Dead See the End of War
HBO

His footage captures the violence, fear and confusion that defined the Iraq War, as well as his self-described “darkest moment” of the war, which haunted him long after he left the country.

Directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag in collaboration with Australian journalist Michael Ware, Only the Dead See the End of War examines the Iraq War and its moral consequences through the story of the rise and fall of jihadi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the progenitor of ISIS. A harrowing and graphic account from both sides of the war zone, as well as an illuminating window into the origins of a modern terrorist organization, the film is told through visceral hand-held video footage culled from hundreds of hours that Ware shot while reporting over the course of the war. This unique, on-the-ground view is combined with eye-opening narration for a frank, unsparing look at the Iraq War unlike any before.

Arriving in Baghdad in 2003 as a novice reporter, Michael Ware was initially on a three-week assignment to cover the invasion of Iraq. He left seven years later, having gained unprecedented access to the Iraqi insurgency and American troops, as well as a myriad of demons -- the after-effects of witnessing seemingly endless, horrific violence.
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Only The Dead

Thirteen Years After Iraq Invasion, Fallen Remembered in Colorado

Iraq War Vets Honored At Civic Center Park On 13th Anniversary Of Invasion
CBS News
March 20, 2016

“Each one of the chairs here represents a person who died serving,” Brittany Bartges with VFW Post 1 said.

DENVER (CBS4) – Sunday marks the 13th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq where thousands of U.S. service members were killed. Several veterans groups gathered to honor those from Colorado who served.

Kevin Sonka’s son David was killed fighting overseas in 2013. He was from Colorado and loved the outdoors — and his military work dog Flex.

“He and his dog were killed together,” Sonka said.

Today Sonka runs the Rocky Mountain Dawgs Project in his son’s honor. It’s just one of multiple organizations that honored those killed in the Iraq War at Civic Center Park Sunday.

read more here

Thieves Take Fallen Marine's Mementos From Bradenton Family

Florida thieves steal trailer with belongings of Marine killed in Iraq
FOX News
December 27, 2015

“His boots, his uniforms, his battle fatigues…It means nothing to nobody but it means something to me and my daughter.” Keith Dougherty

Thieves stole a trailer containing belongings of Scott Dougherty who died fighting in Iraq. (Fox 13)

Heartless thieves in Florida last week stole a storage trailer that contained the belongings of a Marine who died fighting Iraq.

The items were all Keith Dougherty had left to remember his hero son. Twenty-year-old Scott Dougherty was killed 11 years ago.

“It feels like he died all over again,” Dougherty, 61, told FoxNews.com Sunday.

Dougherty got a call Wednesday morning telling him the trailer he had parked behind Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Bradenton had been stolen.

Dougherty, a maintenance supervisor at the church, kept his son’s belongings in the trailer, along with other items, like medical records, tax returns and Christmas decorations.

“His boots, his uniforms, his battle fatigues…It means nothing to nobody but it means something to me and my daughter,” Dougherty told Fox 13.
read more here

Fort Drum Soldier Died in Iraq

UPDATE

Christie orders state flags at half-staff for N.J. soldier who died
North Jersey
BY TODD SOUTH
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
DECEMBER 4, 2015

Following the death of a a New Jersey soldier, Governor Christie has ordered all state buildings to fly flags at half staff today.

U.S. Army Private Christopher J. Castaneda, of Hammonton, died in a non-combat related incident on Nov. 19 while serving at the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq with the 71st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, according to the Department of Defense.

Fort Drum soldier dies in non-combat incident in Iraq, Army says
Syracuse.com
By Ken Sturtz
November 20, 2015

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- A soldier stationed at the Army's Fort Drum in Jefferson County has been killed in Iraq. Pvt. Christopher J. Castaneda died Thursday at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

Fort Drum said his death was the result of a "non-combat related incident," but did not provide further details. read more here