USWarWatch.org - Coalition deaths in Afghanistan, April, 2007

COALITION DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN
ARCHIVE - APRIL, 2007
A running log of text entries for the month of April, 2007 (chronology runs top to bottom)

Friday, April 06, 2007 10:42 AM - The Dutch Ministry of Defense is reporting the death of a Dutch soldier in a vehicle accident in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Friday, April 6th. According to an English-language Associated Press account, a vehicle was attempting to cross a river, when part of the ground gave way beneath it, causing the vehicle to flip over onto it's side, trapping a 33-year-old sergeant. The man was rushed to hospital at a nearby Dutch base, but could not be revived.

Friday, April 06, 2007 11:04 AM - A rough translation of the Dutch Ministry of Defense account of the vehicle accident that killed a Dutch soldier on Friday, April 6th, reveals that the soldier was a "sergeant der eerste klasse", or Sergeant 1st Class. Also the accident appeared to have happened about 3.5 kilometers northeast of the Dutch base, Camp Holland, at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province.

Saturday, April 07, 2007 6:08 AM -

Robert Donkers, 33, of Limburg, the Netherlands

The Dutch Ministry of Defense has released the name of the Dutch soldier who died in a vehicle accident near Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Friday, April 6th: Sergeant 1st Class Robert Donkers, 33, of Kerkrade in the southeastern province of Limburg, the Netherlands. Donkers was assigned to Bravo Company of the 42nd Armored Infantry Battalion "Limburgse Jagers", 13th Mechanized Brigade. He was married.

Sunday, April 08, 2007 5:54 AM - Reuters is reporting that a roadside bomb killed one NATO soldier and wounded two other soldiers on Sunday, April 8th, in southern Afghanistan. No further details are being released at this point.

Sunday, April 08, 2007 12:16 PM - CBC News (Canada) is reporting that six Canadian NATO soldiers lost their lives on Sunday, April 8th, when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. A seventh soldier was apparently seriously injured in the blast. An unknown number of others were wounded to varying degrees.

Monday, April 09, 2007 4:33 AM -
	The Canadian Press and Canadian CTV have published the names of five of the six soldiers who died on Easter Sunday, April 8th, when their vehicle was struck by an IED about 75 km west of Kandahar City very close to the border between Helmand and Kandahar Provinces:
		Private David Robert Greenslade, 20, of St. John, New Brunswick
		Private Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 20, of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland
		Sergeant Donald Lucas, 31, of Burton, New Brunswick
		Corporal Christopher Paul Stannix, 24, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
		Corporal Aaron E. Williams, 23, of Lincoln, New Brunswick
	Stannix was a reservist with the Halifax-based Princess Louise Fusiliers. All the others were with Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment based at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. The loss is considered to be the single largest one-day death toll for the Canadian forces since the campaign began in Afghanistan in 2002. Of the 10 men in the armored vehicle, six were killed, one received serious abdominal injuries and would likely be airlifted to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany, one received minor injuries, and two were unhurt.
	The identity of the sixth death is being withheld for the time being at the request of his family.

Monday, April 09, 2007 8:20 PM -
	(1) The Canadian Minister of National Defense has issued a statement listing the names of all six Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday, April 8th. The sixth soldier, whose name had not previously been released, was identified as Corporal Brent D. Poland. A Canadian Press article has subsequently reported his hometown as being Sarnia, Ontario ... and that he was a member of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment out of Gagetown, New Brunswick. More details of the horrific explosion that killed the men have now been released in another Canadian Press article. Three light armored vehicles were apparently on their way to guard a convoy of NATO supply trucks when they became tangled up in a field full of closely spaced deep irrigation wells. When one of the vehicles tried to drive through a narrow crossing point, a large charge recently set detonated with a force so powerful it literally blew one of the survivors out of the turret hatch. The men had been living out of that vehicle for over a month and were on their last convoy escort before rotating back to their base at Kandahar for R&R.
	(2) The U.S. DoD has identified an American soldier who died in Afghanistan: Private 1st Class Conor G. Masterson, 21, of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. The statement said that Singleton died from a roadside bomb attack on Saturday, April 7th, in Eastern Afghanistan. However, the only recent ISAF statement for a single NATO death reported it to be a roadside bomb attack on Sunday, April 8th, in Southern Afghanistan. As it turns out, Masterson's unit, the 1st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment, is currently deployed to the Deh Chopan District in the northwestern part of Zabul Province ... which is situated in SouthEastern Afghanistan. So it is possible either ISAF or the DoD is mistaken on the date, although somewhat correct on the location. We will use the DoD's date of the 7th until better information comes to light.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 7:39 AM -
	(1) The Toronto Star has published an article about the blast that killed six Canadian soldiers on Easter Sunday, April 8th, on the Kandahar/Helmand Province border in Afghanistan. Apparently, the armored vehicles had gone off road because the road itself was in such awful condition and suspected of being laced with IEDs, to boot. Thus the need to travel through a field of closely spaced wells, in which insurgents had also planted the huge bomb that one vehicle hit. The article also gave Corporal Brent Poland's age as 37.
	(2) CBC News is carrying an article that states that Corporal Christopher Paul Stannix, the 24-year-old reservist with the Princess Louise Fusiliers, had actually achieved the rank of Master Corporal, but accepted a demotion in order to serve in Afghanistan. Another article that appeared in the Halifax Daily News also refers to him as a Master Corporal.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 9:58 AM -
Conor G. Masterson, 21, of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota	(1) The original DoD press release that confirmed the death of Conor G. Masterson, 21, in Afghanistan on April 7th, called him a "Private 1st Class". But they have since revised the release ... and upgraded him to "Specialist". The Associated Press has a good write-up on Masterson, saying that he joined the army in 2005 from a strong desire to see the world and have new experiences before settling down to earn a college degree. Masterson served as a medic, a field that fascinated him so much that he was considering a future medical career. One bit of advice that he gave to his younger brother, however: go to college right after high school instead of joining the army. Masterson had been married for less than a year.
Brent Donald Poland, 37, of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada	(2) The Sarnia (Ontario) Observer has published a statement from the family of 37-year-old Corporal Brent Donald Poland who died in a powerful IED blast in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday, April 8th, along with 5 other Canadian soldiers. Poland had earned a History degree from York University and a Media Arts degree from Ryerson University. His decision to join the army wasn't made until he was in his 30's.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 5:03 PM - The Canadian Press is quoting a Canadian military source as saying that two more of their soldiers were killed and three injured in two separate attacks west of Kandahar City in Afghanistan. Very little else is known at this point except that the unit involved is based in Petawawa, Ontario. We are assuming the deaths occurred on Wednesday, April 11th.

Thursday, April 12, 2007 3:49 AM -
	Canada's Globe and Mail newpaper has published the names of the two Canadian soldiers who died in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 11th:
		Master Corporal Allan Stewart, 30, of Trout Brook, New Brunswick
		Trooper Patrick James Pentland, 23, of Gagetown, New Brunswick
	According to this source, there were three separate bombings on the 11th. The two that caused casualties occurred approximately 38 km west of Kandahar City in the Zhari District, part of the Arghandab river valley that has had to be repeatedly cleared of Taliban forces over nearly all of the past year. A convoy hit the first bomb at about 6 PM local time, but only one soldier was injured. About two hours later, less than a kilometer away, the second blast hit the same platoon, killing two and injuring two.
	The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reports that Stewart was a career military man who lived with his wife and two daughters in Trout Brook, N.B. His sister in Saskatoon said that he had just returned to Afghanistan after two weeks leave that was required for a pinched nerve in his back after a vehicle he was riding in hit an earlier roadside bomb. He had previously been deployed to Bosnia, but said that Afghanistan "was dirty and bad and this was the worst tour he's been on".
	Pentland was actually born on the Canadian military base in Lahr, Germany, as his father was career military ... this according to an article from CBC News. He was raised on the Canadian base at Gagetown, New Brunswick, and eventually enlisted himself. His father said, "He was just a quiet, fit soldier who died doing what he wanted to do."

Thursday, April 12, 2007 5:27 AM -
	(1) The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) website is reporting the death of a NATO soldier from a non-hostile unspecified cause in Kunar Province on Wednesday, April 11th. As is customary, ISAF does not report the nationality of the victim. The forces in Kunar are predominately American.
	(2) The Canadian Department of National Defense has officially released the names of the two Canadian soldiers who died on April 11th in Kandahar Province. The ISAF statement on the deaths has also been posted.

Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:11 AM - ISAF is reporting that two more NATO soldiers have died from improvised explosive device attacks ... this time in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 12th. The news release stated that two separate convoys on two separate missions about 5 miles apart were struck within 30 minutes of one another. One soldier was wounded. As is usual, ISAF does not give out the nationalities of casualties.

Friday, April 13, 2007 7:17 AM - ISAF is reporting the death of another NATO soldier, this time in a firefight in southern Afghanistan on Friday, April 13th. Two other NATO soldiers were wounded in the incident.

Friday, April 13, 2007 11:14 AM - The British Ministry of Defense has now confirmed that the NATO soldier who died on Friday, April 13th, was a British trooper from 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment. Company A was out on routine patrol near the town of Now Zad in northwestern Helmand Province when they engaged a group of 5 Taliban attempting to set up an ambush. This led to an engagement with a much larger group of Taliban ... and a ferocious firefight ensued involving mortars, rockets, RPG's, heavy machine guns and small arms. It was in this exchange of fire that the British soldier suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was evacuated by helicopter under heavy fire, but was pronounced dead by the time the chopper could get him back to base.

Saturday, April 14, 2007 8:38 AM -

Chris Gray, 19, of Leicester in central England

The British Ministry of Defense has identified the British soldier who died on Friday, April 13th, in northwest Helmand Province in a firefight: Private Chris Gray, 19, of Leicester in central England. Gray had joined the army in March of 2006. A friend of his in his unit said, "He was a generous friend and would always share his last biscuit with you. You could trust him with anything." He has two younger brothers and a younger sister.

Saturday, April 14, 2007 12:20 PM -
Edelman L. Hernandez, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland	(1) The DoD has announced the death of a U.S. soldier on Wednesday, April 11th, in the Korengal Valley in Kunar Province, northeastern Afghanistan, "while on combat patrol": Sergeant Edelman L. Hernandez, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland. They also state that Hernandez's death "is under investigation". This leads us to believe that he is the non-hostile, unspecified cause death reported by ISAF in this news release.
	(2) The DoD has also identified two other American deaths in Afghanistan, these on Thursday, April 12th, in the vicinity of the town of Miri in Andar District, Ghazni Province, in eastern Afghanistan:
		Staff Sergeant Casey D. Combs, 28, of Auburn, Washington
		Sergeant David A. Stephens, 28, of Tullahoma, Tennessee
	The men died when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. An Associated Press article is reporting that Combs was a construction foreman before he joined the army in 2002. He was married and had a 6-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. Stephens was an army medic who had graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in abnormal psychology. He had been offered a chance to go to officer candidate school, but turned it down to train as a medic instead because of his desire to help others. He and his wife have a 3-month-old daughter.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 5:19 AM -
	(1) The Canadian Department of National Defense has announced the death of a Canadian special forces soldier in Afghanistan as a result of a non-hostile accident on Wednesday, April 18th. An article from CanWest News Service cites Canadian military officials in Kandahar as saying that the soldier was performing a routine operation on a communications tower within the Kandahar City limits when he apparently accidentally fell to his death. His death is the first of a Canadian special forces soldier in the current conflict in Afghanistan.
	(2) Officials at Fort Drum, NY, have issued a press statement that provides more information on the non-hostile death of Army Sergeant Edelman L. Hernandez, 23, on April 11th in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. He was on a foot patrol along the Korengal River near Babyal Village when he lost his footing and "fell into a deep section of the river at around 6 p.m. local time". His body was recovered some distance downstream the next morning. He is survived by his parents and two younger brothers.

Friday, April 20, 2007 5:17 AM - The Associated Press is reporting the death of a Dutch corporal in an explosion early Friday, April 20th, in Helmand Province where his unit was on a foot patrol as part of Operation Achilles, designed to flush militants out of the opium-growing region. He becomes the first Dutch fatality due to hostile action in the current war in Afghanistan. A Dutch news source (in English) is reporting that the corporal stepped on a land mine.

Friday, April 20, 2007 6:05 AM -
	The Dutch Ministry of Defense has identified the soldier who was killed in Helmand Province on Friday, April 20th: Corporal Cor Strik, 21. Very rougly translated, the release states in part:
		"21-year-old Netherland Army Corporal Cor Strik of an airmobile brigade, has died from an explosion while on a foot patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Commander of the armed forces, General Dick Berlijn, made the announcement during a press briefing. The explosion was caused by a so-called improvised explosive device.
		"The corporal was part of Tiger Company of the 11th Airmobile Brigade which has been supporting Operation Achilles for some weeks. At the time of the explosion, the patrol was two kilometers south of the town of Sangin. The corporal died in action. His remains will be flown to Kandahar as soon as possible, and from there will be brought to the Netherlands."

Friday, April 20, 2007 6:28 AM - The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is reporting that actually TWO NATO soldiers died on Friday, April 20th, in two separate explosions in southern Afghanistan. We have already learned that one is the Dutchman, Corporal Cor Strik. The nationality of the other is as yet unknown.

Friday, April 20, 2007 9:05 AM - The Record of Waterloo Region has learned the name of the Canadian soldier who died in Kandahar City when he fell from a communications tower while conducting surveillance on Wednesday, April 18th: Anthony Klumpenhower, 25, of Kurtzville, a little town near Listowel in Ontario. Klumpenhower was the second-oldest son in a farming family of 13 children. He had joined the army initially with the intention of only staying for a three year term, but liked it so much he stayed on. The Canadian Press has also released an article on Klumpenhower in which his aunt tells the story of his winning a $20 bet that he could stay single until the age of 25. Despite the bet, he had planned on marrying his girlfriend.

Friday, April 20, 2007 9:22 AM - A Canadian Press journalist embedded with Canadian troops at Forward Operating Base Robinson in the Sangin River Valley, Helmand Province, is reporting that the explosions that killed two NATO soldiers on Friday, April 20th, could be clearly heard and felt from the base. The first, less than two kilometers away, killed the Dutch soldier and left a towering column of black smoke in the sky. The second explosion apparently killed an American soldier, an engineer on a joint British-American team, who had gone out to investigate the first incident and wound up triggering a land mine himself.

Friday, April 20, 2007 10:05 AM -
Anthony Klumpenhower, 25, of Kurtzville, near Listowel in Ontario	(1) According to its official website, Canadian special forces are grouped into an entity known as Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM). It's headquarters is in Ottawa, Ontario. Canadian Anthony Klumpenhower became the first of that elite group to die in the current conflict in Afghanistan on April 18th.
Cor Strik, 21, of The Netherlands	(2) The Dutch Ministry of Defense has another notice up now (with photo) on the death of Korporaal Cor Strik, 21, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on April 20th. It includes a note from his family which is roughly translated as follows:

Friday, April 20, 2007 4:16 PM - The Canadian Department of National Defense has officially released the name of the Canadian soldier who died in an accident in Kandahar on April 18th: Master Corporal Anthony Klumpenhouwer, 25.

Sunday, April 22, 2007 5:18 AM -

Alexander Van Aalten, 21, of Monterey, Tennessee

The Monterey (California) Herald-Citizen is reporting the death of a local man in Afghanistan: Army Sergeant Alex Van Aalten, 21, of Monterey. Van Aalten is believed to be the US soldier who stepped on a land mine in Helmand Province on Friday, April 20th, several hours after a Dutchman died from the same cause in the same area. According to his mother, Van Aalten jointed the army right after high school graduation and had already served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He had recently signed on for another 6 year hitch. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, NC.

Monday, April 23, 2007 8:42 AM - CORRECTION: The aunt of Army Sergeant Alex Van Aalten has written to USWarWatch to inform us that he was from Monterey, Tennessee, not Monterey, California as previously reported.

Monday, April 23, 2007 11:25 AM - The DoD has confirmed the death of Army Sergeant Alexander Van Aalten, 21, of Monterey, Tennessee, in the Sangin River Valley, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, from a land mine explosion on Friday, April 20th.

Friday, April 27, 2007 6:41 AM - The Associated Press is reporting the death of a "member of the U.S.-led military coalition" from enemy action in the far west of Afghanistan ... in the Shindand district of Herat Province. The death was described as occurring during a gunbattle. The nationality of the victim was not given. The same basic information has also appeared in a report from CBS News.

Friday, April 27, 2007 8:42 AM - CENTCOM has now confirmed the death of a "Coalition servicemember" from enemy action 4 kilometers south of Shindand in Shindand District, Herat Province, on Friday, April 27th.

Saturday, April 28, 2007 5:18 AM - The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) website is reporting the death of an ISAF servicemember who was found dead in his barracks room on Friday, April 27th. No further information was provided. The report was datelined "Bagram Air Field" ... so it is possible the death may have occurred there.

Sunday, April 29, 2007 10:32 AM - ISAF is reporting the death of one of their servicemembers in a non-hostile incident in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, April 28th. Another servicemember was also injured. No other details have been released.

Monday, April 30, 2007 10:54 AM -
	(1) CENTCOM has announced the death of a "Coalition servicemember" from enemy action four kilometers south of Shindand in Shindand District, Herat Province, in the far west of Afghanistan. A media report from Reuters calls this casualty an American ... and the fact that CENTCOM would issue a press release would seem to confirm that.
Michael D. Thomas, 34, of Seffner, Florida	(2) The DoD has identified the soldier who died in enemy action on Friday, April 27th, as an American. Staff Sergeant Michael D. Thomas, 34, of Seffner, Florida, was killed when his unit was attacked with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire about 4 kilometers south of the city of Shindand, Shindand District, Herat Province, in the far west of Afghanistan. Thomas was with the 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, NC.
Daniel F. Mehringer, 20, of Morgantown, West Virginia	(3) The DoD has also identified the soldier who died in a non-hostile, unspecified incident on Friday, April 27th, as an American. Specialist Daniel F. Mehringer, 20, of Morgantown, West Virginia, died at Bagram Air Base.

Monday, April 30, 2007 3:20 PM -

Jeremy R. Greene, 24, of Springfield, Ohio

The DoD has identified the soldier who died of a non-hostile, unspecified cause in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, April 28th: Corporal Jeremy R. Greene, 24, of Springfield, Ohio. The release says that he died at Forward Operating Base Tillman which is in Paktia Province not far from the Pakistani border. An article from the Associated Press is quoting an army spokesman as stating that Greene died of a gunshot wound at the base, and that another soldier was injured in the incident. However, he did not elaborate on the circumstances.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007 12:00 PM - On April 27th, CENTCOM issued a press release announcing the death of a Coalition servicemember from hostile action in Herat Province on that day. On April 30th, the DoD verified the death and identified the victim as Staff Sergeant Michael D. Thomas. However, also on April 30th, CENTCOM issued another press release announcing the death of a Coalition servicemember from hostile action in Herat Province on THAT day. It was worded identically to the earlier release, but we posted it anyway due to the three day time difference. Eight days later, however, the DoD has issued no verification or identification for any death on the 30th in Afghanistan. We are therefore assuming that the second release was an "echo" of the first, and was re-issued in error ... and we are deleting this posting from the database, thus reducing the death count by one.

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