Military Deaths

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

Edward C. Barnhill, 50, of Shreveport, La.; command sergeant major, Army Reserve. Barnhill died Friday in Baghdad of noncombat-related injuries. He was assigned to the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion, Army Reserve in North Little Rock, Ark.

Kyle A. Brinlee, 21, of Pryor, Okla.; specialist, Army National Guard. Brinlee was killed Tuesday when his convoy vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Al Asad, Iraq. He was assigned to Detachment 1, Company B, 120th Combat Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard in Pryor, Okla.

Philip D. Brown, 21, of El Paso; specialist, Army National Guard. Brown died May 8 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries suffered in the detonation of an improvised explosive device west of Samarra. He was assigned to Company B, 141st Engineer Combat Battalion, Army National Guard in Jamestown, N.D.

Brud J. Cronkrite, 22, of Spring Valley, Calif.; sergeant, Army. Cronkrite died Friday in Baghdad of injuries suffered Thursday when a rocket-propelled grenade struck a building near him during a security patrol in Karbala, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor, 1st Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany.

James J. Holmes, 28, of East Grand Forks, Minn.; specialist, Army National Guard. Holmes died May 8 in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered May 3 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Iraq. He was assigned to C Company, 141st Engineer Combat Battalion, Army National Guard in Hettinger, N.D.

Rodney A. Murray, 28, of Ayden, N.C.; sergeant, Army Reserve. Murray was killed May 9 in the collision of a Bradley fighting vehicle and his military vehicle between Baghdad and Scania, Iraq. He was assigned to the 351st Military Police Company, Army Reserve in Ocala, Fla.

Ronald R. Payne Jr., 23, of Lakeland, Fla.; corporal, Marine Corps. Payne was killed May 7 in hostile action near Tawara, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Isela Rubalcava, 25, of El Paso; specialist, Army. Rubalcava was killed May 8 in a mortar attack in Mosul, Iraq. She was assigned to the 296th Combat Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Jeremiah E. Savage, 21, of Livingston, Tenn.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Savage was killed Wednesday in hostile action in Iraq’s Al Anbar province. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Jeffrey R. Shaver, 26, of Maple Valley, Wash.; specialist, Army National Guard. Shaver was killed Wednesday when his convoy vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry, Army National Guard in Spokane, Wash.

Andrew L. Tuazon, 21, of Chesapeake, Va.; private first class, Army. Tuazon was killed Monday by hostile fire while on guard duty in Mosul, Iraq. He was assigned to the 293rd Military Police Company, 3rd Military Police Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Chase R. Whitham, 21, of Harrisburg, Ore.; specialist, Army. Whitham was electrocuted May 8 in a swimming pool in Mosul, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Source: Department of Defense