Military deaths

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

Paul E. Andersen, 49, of Dowagiac, Mich.; specialist, Army Reserve. Andersen was killed Oct. 1 when his camp in Baghdad was attacked with indirect fire -- a military term that usually refers to a mortar or rocket attack. He was assigned to the 855th Quartermaster Company in South Bend, Ind.

Justin T. Gallegos, 27, of Tucson; sergeant, Army. Gallegos was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Christopher T. Griffin, 24, of Kincheloe, Mich.; specialist, Army. Griffin was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Joshua M. Hardt, 24, of Applegate, Calif.; sergeant, Army. Hardt was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Tad T. Hervas, 48, of Coon Rapids, Minn.; major, Army National Guard. Hervas died of noncombat-related injuries Tuesday at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 34th Infantry Division in Rosemont, Minn.

Kevin O. Hill, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; specialist, Army. Hill was killed Oct. 4 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire and indirect fire -- a military term that usually refers to a mortar or rocket attack -- at Contingency Outpost Dehanna in southwest Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 576th Mobility Augmentation Company at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Joshua J. Kirk, 30, of South Portland, Maine; sergeant, Army. Kirk was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Stephan L. Mace, 21, of Lovettsville, Va.; specialist, Army. Mace was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Vernon W. Martin, 25 of Savannah, Ga.; staff sergeant, Army. Martin was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Alan H. Newton Jr., 26, of Asheboro, N.C.; private first class, Army Reserve. Newton was one of two reservists killed Oct. 2 in a suicide bomb attack in Murcheh, Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Greensboro, N.C.

Brandon A. Owens, 21, of Memphis, Tenn.; private first class, Army. Owens was one of two soldiers killed Oct. 2 when their unit was attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan’s Wardak province, west of Kabul. He was assigned to the 118th Military Police Company, 503rd Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Thomas D. Rabjohn, 39, of Litchfield Park, Ariz.; staff sergeant, Army National Guard. Rabjohn was killed Oct. 3 when a roadside bomb exploded near him in central Afghanistan’s Wardak province, west of Kabul. The Phoenix police officer was assigned to the 363rd Explosive Ordnance Detachment in Coolidge, Ariz.

Michael P. Scusa, 22, of Villas, N.J.; sergeant, Army. Scusa was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Benjamin A. Sklaver, 32, of Hamden, Conn.; captain, Army Reserve. Sklaver was one of two reservists killed Oct. 2 in a suicide bomb attack in Murcheh, Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Greensboro, N.C.

Aaron M. Smith, 25, of Manhattan, Kan.; sergeant, Army. Smith was one of two soldiers killed Oct. 2 when their unit was attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan’s Wardak province, west 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.

Kevin C. Thomson, 22, of Reno; private first class, Army. Thomson was among eight soldiers killed Oct. 3 when hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked two remote U.S. outposts in the Kamdesh district of eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M.; sergeant first class, Army. Westbrook died Wednesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., of gunshot injuries suffered Sept. 8 during a firefight with insurgents who ambushed his unit in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

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