Military deaths

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

Roberto Andrade Jr., 26, of Chicago; staff sergeant, Army. Andrade was killed Jan. 18 when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Ezra Dawson, 31, of Las Vegas; specialist, Army. Dawson was killed Jan. 17 when his Chinook helicopter made a hard landing under combat conditions in northeastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Omar J. McKnight, 22, of Marrero, La.; senior airman, Air Force. McKnight was killed Jan. 17 in a noncombat-related incident in Balad, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 6th Security Forces Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Matthew M. Pollini, 21, of Rockland Mass.; private first class, Army National Guard. Pollini was killed Thursday when his vehicle overturned at Forward Operating Base Delta, near Kut, in Iraq’s Wasit province, southeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 772nd Military Police Company in Taunton, Mass.

Carlo M. Robinson, 33, of Lawton, Okla.; staff sergeant, Army. Robinson died Jan. 17 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Ft. Polk, La.

Joshua R. Townsend, 30, of Solvang, Calif.; staff sergeant, Army. Townsend died Jan. 16 after being found unconscious and without a pulse in his room while serving in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg , N.C.

Ricky L. Turner, 20, of Athens, Ala.; private first class, Army. Turner was killed Jan. 16 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Sources: Department of Defense and the Associated Press