Military deaths

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

Carlos A. Aragon, 19, of Orem, Utah; lance corporal, Marine Corps Reserve. Aragon was killed in combat Monday in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.

Josiah D. Crumpler, 27, of Hillsborough, N.C.; specialist, Army. Crumpler was one of two soldiers killed Monday when insurgents attacked their unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in the Bala Murghab district of western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, which borders Turkmenistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Ian T.D. Gelig, 25, of Stevenson Ranch; specialist, Army. Gelig was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Matthew D. Huston, 24, of Athens, Ga.; specialist, Army. Huston was one of two soldiers killed Monday when insurgents attacked their unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in the Bala Murghab district of western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, which borders Turkmenistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Nigel K. Olsen, 21, of Orem, Utah; lance corporal, Marine Corps Reserve. Olsen was killed in combat Thursday in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.

Vincent L.C. Owens, 21, of Fort Smith, Ark.; sergeant, Army. Owens died Monday at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered earlier that day when his transport vehicle was attacked in the Yosuf Khel district of southeast Paktika province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Ft. Campbell, Ky.

Anthony A. Paci, 30, of Rockville, Md., specialist, Army. Paci was killed March 4 when his vehicle overturned in the town of Gereshk in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

William S. Ricketts, 27, of Corinth, Miss.; staff sergeant, Army. Ricketts was killed Feb. 27 when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire in the Bala Murghab district of western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, which borders Turkmenistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

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