Ohio military deaths

OHIO

Army Lt. Col. Dominic Rocco Baragona, 42, of Niles, was killed May 19, 2003, near Safwan, Iraq, when a tractor-trailer jackknifed on the road and collided with his humvee. Baragona was assigned to 19th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Sill, Okla., as the commanding officer.

Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Smith Jr., 21, of Wintersville, died April 18, 2004, of injuries received from enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, at Twentynine Palms, Calif. He had also served a tour of duty in Iraq and Kuwait from Jan. 25, 2003, to Sept. 4, 2003.

Army Staff Sgt. Elvis Bourdon, 36, of Youngstown, died Sept. 6, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq, when his military vehicle came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire and grenades. Bourdon was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas.

Sgt. Larry R. Kuhns Jr., 24, of Austintown, died June 13, 2005, in Ramadi, Iraq, where their military vehicle came under a grenade attack while conducting combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Marine L/Cpl. Daniel M. McVicker, 20, of Alliance, died Oct. 6, 2005, from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Qaim, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Detachment 21, 2nd Force Service Support Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Cherry Point, N.C. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom he was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel J. Pratt, 48, of Youngstown, died Nov. 3, 2005, from a noncombat-related cause in An Nasiriyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 211th Maintenance Company, Ohio Army National Guard, Newark.

Army Spec. Marco L. Miller, 36, of Longwood, Fla., formerly of Warren, died Dec. 5, 2006, at Landstuhl Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered Dec. 3 in Taji, Iraq, in a mortar attack while conducting an escort mission. Miller was assigned to the 3rd Battalion Support Company, 20th Special Forces Group, Camp Blanding, Fla.

Army Pfc. Kenneth Tyler Butler, 21, of East Liverpool, died Feb. 1, 2007, from injuries suffered when the humvee in which he was a passenger went out of control and overturned in the ravine off a stream or river in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 57th Military Police Company, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Pacific, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Army Sgt. Robert Michael Carr, 22, of Fowler, died March 13, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near the vehicle he was driving. Carr was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

PENNSYLVANIA

Army Staff Sgt. Ernest G. Bucklew, 33, of Enon Valley, Pa., died Nov. 2, 2003, when the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter in which he was riding was shot down in Al Fallujah, Iraq. Bucklew was assigned to Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo. He was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

Army National Guard Spec. Clifford L. Moxley Jr., 51, of New Castle, Pa., died in his sleep Sept. 25, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 103rd Armor Regiment, Berwick, Penn. He served with the 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery Regiment out of New Castle, and in March, 2004, his unit was deployed to Iraq.

Army Spec. Michael J. Smith, 24, of Media, Pa., died Jan. 11, 2005, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when his military vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Marine Reserve Sgt. Michael A. Marzano, 28, of Greenville, Pa., died May 7, 2005, as the result of an explosion caused by a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Hadithah, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Force Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Phoenix, Ariz., which was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Army Pfc. Douglas E. Kashmer, 27, of Sharon, Pa., died June 8, 2005, in Nippur, Iraq, when the wrecker in which he was a passenger was involved in a noncombat-related rollover. Kashmer was assigned to the Army’s 70th Transportation Company, Mannheim, Germany.

Army National Guard Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin, 44, of Mercer, Pa., died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Jan. 5, 2006, when he was conducting a foot patrol at an Iraqi police recruiting station and an individual-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his position. McLaughlin was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Washington, Pa.

Marine Cpl. Albert Pasquale Gettings, 27, of New Castle, Pa., died Jan. 5, 2006, of abdominal injuries suffered from small-arms fire while he was in Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. He had also served 51‚Ñ2 months in Afghanistan.

Army Staff Sgt. David M. Veverka, 25, of Jamestown, Pa., died May 6, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M1083 cargo truck during combat operations in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain), Brewer, Maine. He was a student at the University of Maine.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Brozovich, 42, of Greenville, Pa., died Oct. 18, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Armored Security Vehicle while on combat patrol in Ashraf, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 213th Air Defense Artillery, Spring City, Pa.

Marine Pfc. James R. Dillon Jr., 19, of Grove City, Pa. died March 13, 2003, in Kuwait. Dillon was assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Sources: Department of Defense/Washington Post Faces of the Fallen Web site