Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:

Ralph Anthony Webb Frietas, 23, of Detroit; sergeant, Marine Corps. Frietas died of unknown causes Dec. 8 in Baghdad. He was assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan.

Dennis J. Hansen, 31, of Panama City, Fla.; staff sergeant, Army. Hansen died Monday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered Dec. 3 when an improvised explosive device detonated near him in central Afghanistan’s Logar province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Xhacob LaTorre, 21, of Waterbury, Conn.; corporal, Marine Corps. LaTorre died Tuesday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio of injuries suffered Aug. 10 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. A fellow Marine was killed in the explosion. LaTorre was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Elijah J. Rao, 26, of Lake Oswego, Ore.; sergeant, Army. Rao was killed Dec. 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Sources: Department of Defense and the Associated Press