Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Esau I. De la Pena- Hernandez, 25, of La Puente; staff sergeant, Army. De la Pena-Hernandez was one of two soldiers who died May 15 at Forward Operating Base Shank in central Afghanistan’s Lowgar province of injuries suffered when their unit was attacked with small-arms fire while on foot patrol in Chak in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Carlie M. Lee III, 23, of Birmingham, Ala.; sergeant, Army. Lee was one of two soldiers who died May 15 at Forward Operating Base Shank in central Afghanistan’s Lowgar province of injuries suffered when their unit was attacked with small-arms fire while on foot patrol in Chak in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

David A. Schaefer Jr., 27, of Belleville, Ill.; specialist, Army. Schaefer was killed May 16 when a roadside bomb exploded near his unit in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Roslyn L. Schulte, 25, of St. Louis; first lieutenant, Air Force. Schulte was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near her convoy vehicle near Kabul, Afghanistan. She was the Air Force Academy’s first female graduate to be killed in action in Afghanistan or Iraq. She was assigned to Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces Command at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

Sources: Department of Defense and the Associated Press