Military deaths

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

Justin B. Allen, 23, of Coal Grove, Ohio; sergeant, Army. Allen was shot and killed July 18 during a firefight in the Zhari district of southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

Justus S. Bartelt, 27, of Polo, Ill.; staff sergeant, Marine Corps. Bartelt was killed July 16 while supporting combat operations in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Robert N. Bennedsen, 25, of Vashon, Wash.; first lieutenant, Army. Bennedsen was killed by a roadside bomb July 18 in Qalat, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany.

Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Seward, Alaska; gunnery sergeant, Marine Corps. Eastman was killed July 18 while working to defuse a bomb in the village of Now Zad in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

John H. Jarrell, 32, of Brunson, S.C.; sergeant first class, Army. Jarrell was one of two soldiers killed July 15 by a roadside bomb while they were on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Paul J. Miller, 22, of Traverse City, Mich.; corporal, Marine Corps. Miller was killed by a roadside bomb Monday while he was on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

James J. Oquin, 20, of El Paso; private first class, Army. Oquin died Friday at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E of injuries suffered when he was swept away by the current after a levee broke near his military vehicle in southeast Afghanistan’s Paktika province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Brian F. Piercy, 27, of Clovis, Calif.; staff sergeant, Army. Piercy was killed by an improvised explosive device Monday while he was on foot patrol in the Arghandab River Valley in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Michael L. Runyan, 24, of Newark, Ohio; first lieutenant, Army. Runyan died Wednesday in Balad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy vehicle in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 52nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Anibal Santiago, 37, of Belvidere, Ill.; sergeant, Army. Santiago died July 18 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered July 17 in a high-altitude fall in mountainous terrain in eastern Khowst province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Dave M. Santos, 21, of Rota, Mariana Islands of the Pacific; corporal, Marine Corps. Santos was killed July 16 while supporting combat operations in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Jesse R. Tilton, 23, of Decatur, Ill.; sergeant, Army. Tilton died July 16 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered July 13 when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and rifle and small-arms fire in Kandahar, Afghanistan, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Julio Vargas, 23, of Sylmar; corporal, Marine Corps. Vargas was killed by a roadside bomb Tuesday in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Matthew W. Weikert, 29, of Jacksonville, Ill.; sergeant, Army. Weikert was killed by a land mine July 17 in southeast Afghanistan’s Paktika province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Leston M. Winters, 30, of Sour Lake, Texas; sergeant, Army. Winters was one of two soldiers killed July 15 by a roadside bomb while they were on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Joe L. Wrightsman, 23, of Jonesboro, La.; corporal, Marine Corps. Wrightsman was killed July 18 while supporting combat operations in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

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