Military deaths

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

Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla.; staff sergeant, Army. Dawson was one of two soldiers fatally shot Sept. 14 by a soldier in their unit at their patrol base near Iskandariya, Iraq, south of Baghdad. Dawson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas; sergeant, Army. Durbin was one of two soldiers fatally shot Sept. 14 by a soldier in their unit at their patrol base near Iskandariya, Iraq, south of Baghdad. Durbin was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Leonard J. Gulczynski II, 19, of Carol Stream, Ill.; private first class, Army. Gulczynski was killed Wednesday when he was ejected from his Humvee in a collision with a civilian vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 610th Engineer Support Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Marques I. Knight, 24, of San Juan Capistrano; specialist, Army. Knight was fatally shot Sept. 6 while on foot patrol in Aliabad in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Ralph J. Marino, 46, of Houston, Pa.; lieutenant colonel, Army. Marino died of a noncombat-related illness Sept. 14 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Central Command at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

Michael W. Murdock, 22, of Chocowinity, N.C.; private, Army. Murdock died Sept. 11 at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, after being struck by enemy fire at Combat Outpost Lybert. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Daniel R. Sexton, 53, of Wentzville, Mo.; sergeant first class, Army. Sexton was killed Sept. 10 in a noncombat-related shooting at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 164th Military Police Company at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.

Michael Slebodnik, 39, of Gibsonia, Pa.; chief warrant officer, Army. Slebodnik died Sept. 11 at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, of wounds suffered near Forward Operating Base Nagil when his Kiowa Warrior helicopter was attacked with small arms during a reconnaissance and surveillance mission. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Eichmann A. Strickland, 23, of Arlington, Wash.; hospital corpsman third class, Navy. Strickland was killed Sept. 9 when his vehicle struck an anti-tank mine in Afghanistan’s Afghanya Valley, northwest of Kabul. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Detachment 36 in Iwakuni, Japan. He was a member of a Marine-embedded training team deployed to Afghan Regional Security Integration Command Central.

James L. Wiley, 46, of North Bend, Ore.; lieutenant colonel, Army National Guard. Wiley died of noncombat-related injuries Thursday at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. He was assigned to the 27th Brigade Combat Team in Syracuse, N.Y.

Darrick D. Wright, 37, of Nashville; captain, Army Reserve. Wright died of a noncombat-related illness Wednesday in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 926th Engineer Brigade in Montgomery, Ala.

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