Other Deaths

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

Jessie Davila, 29, of Greensburg, Kan.; sergeant, Army National Guard. Davila was killed Feb. 20 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry, Army National Guard in Lawrence, Kan.

*

Emigdio E. Elizarraras, 37, of Pico Rivera; master sergeant, Army. Elizarraras was killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee during a reconnaissance mission in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

*

Clay P. Farr, 21, of Bakersfield; specialist, Army. Farr was one of two soldiers killed Feb. 26 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee while on patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

*

Curtis T. Howard II, 32, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; staff sergeant, Army. Howard was among three soldiers killed Feb. 22 when their Bradley fighting vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

*

Joshua U. Humble, 21, of Appleton, Maine.; specialist, Army. Humble was one of two soldiers killed Feb. 26 when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee while on patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

*

Christopher S. Merchant, 32, of Hardwick, Vt.; specialist, Army National Guard. Merchant was killed Wednesday when his armored Humvee was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and by a suicide car bomber near a police station in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard in Jericho, Vt.

*

Gordon F. Misner II, 23, of Sparks, Nev.; sergeant, Army. Misner was among three soldiers killed Feb. 22 when their Bradley fighting vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

*

Dimitri Muscat, 21, of Aurora, Colo.; sergeant, Army. Muscat died Feb. 24 in Balad, Iraq, of noncombat-related injuries suffered earlier that day in Samarra, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

*

Joshua M. Pearce, 21, of Guymon, Okla.; specialist, Army. Pearce was killed Feb. 26 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Stryker military vehicle while on patrol in Mosul, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Ft. Wainwright, Alaska.

*

Joshua F. Powers, 21, of Skiatook, Okla.; private, Army. Powers died of a noncombat-related injury Feb. 24 in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

*

Tina M. Priest, 20, of Austin, Texas; private first class, Army. Priest died of a noncombatrelated injury Wednesday in Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. She was assigned to the 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

*

Christopher J. Schornak, 28, of Hoover, Ala.; staff sergeant, Army. Schornak was killed Feb. 26 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire while on foot patrol in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

*

Benjamin C. Schuster, 21, of Williamsville, N.Y.; private first class, Army National Guard. Schuster died of a gunshot wound Feb. 25 in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. No other details were provided. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 101st Cavalry Regiment, Army National Guard in Buffalo, N.Y.

*

John J. Thornton, 22, of Phoenix; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Thornton was killed Feb. 25 in a mortar attack in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

*

Adam J. Vanalstine, 21, of Superior, Wis.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Vanalstine was killed Feb. 25 by a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

*

Thomas J. Wilwerth, 21, of Mastic, N.Y.; specialist, Army. Wilwerth was among three soldiers killed Feb. 22 when their Bradley fighting vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

*

Joshua V. Youmans, 26, of Flushing, Mich.; sergeant, Army National Guard. Youmans died Wednesday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries suffered Nov. 21 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee during combat in Habbaniya, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard in Saginaw, Mich.

*

Sources: Department of Defense, Times staff reports and Associated Press