Thursday, June 07, 2007 7:51 PM - UPDATE - The DoD has now confirmed the death of Army Specialist Jacob M. Lowell, 22, of New Lenox, Illinois, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire on Saturday, June 2nd. He died near Gowardesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan.

Saturday, June 09, 2007 6:23 PM - UPDATE - The British Ministry of Defense has now confirmed that the NATO soldier who died in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, June 9th, was British. The soldier was part of a patrol that was ambushed approximately 3 km outside of Sangin in Helmand Province with an explosive device of some kind, followed by a sustained attack with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. Four soldiers were wounded and had to be extracted under fire.

Sunday, June 10, 2007 10:35 AM - UPDATE - The British Ministry of Defense has identified the British soldier from the Grenadier Guards who died near Sangin City in Helmand Province when the vehicle he was in was hit by an explosion on Saturday, June 9th: Guardsman Neil 'Tony' Downes, 20, from Manchester, England. Downes joined the army in 2004 and had already been deployed to Iraq once in 2006. A thorough professional, he excelled in gathering intelligence from patrols in the part of Helmand Province to which he was assigned ... and had developed a depth of understanding about the area that left his company always well prepared for their tasks. A fellow soldier described him as having "a million watt smile and a sense of humor that could stir even the coldest heart." Downes is survived by his family and girlfriend.

Monday, June 11, 2007 5:32 PM - UPDATE -
Charles E. Wyckoff Jr., 28, of Chula Vista, California	The DoD has announced that the NATO soldier killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 6th, was an American. Sergeant Charles E. Wyckoff Jr., 28, of Chula Vista, California, was killed in a small arms fire attack in Helmand Province.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 7:33 AM - INCOMING -

Darryl Caswell, 25, of Clarington, Ontario, Canadal

The Canadian Department of National Defense has announced the death of a Canadian soldier in a roadside bomb blast about 40 km north of Kandahar City on Monday, June 11: Trooper Darryl Caswell of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at Petawawa, Ontario. Caswell was part of a convoy carrying supplies to the Canadian forward operating base at Kahkrez when the incident happened. Two other soldiers received non-life-threatening injuries.

Friday, June 15, 2007 5:05 AM - INCOMING - Deutsche Presse-Agentur is citing U.S. military sources as saying that a soldier assigned to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan was killed in a combat operation in the eastern province of Paktika on Friday, June 15th.

Friday, June 15, 2007 9:48 AM - INCOMING - Reuters is reporting the death of a 20-year-old Dutch NATO soldier when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 15th. The Dutch Ministry of Defense has confirmed the death.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 7:22 AM - 1 INCOMING - The Chinese news service Xinhua is citing a "coalition statement" in reporting the death of a U.S.-led coalition soldier in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade on Saturday, June 16th. As the bulk of these forces are American, we are guessing that the dead soldier was an American.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 8:34 AM - UPDATES -
	(1) The DoD has confirmed that the soldier who died in Paktika Province on Friday, June 15th, was an American: Master Sergeant Arthur L. Lilley, 35, of Smithfield, Pennsylvania. Lilley was a member of the 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, NC. He died in a small arms fire attack in the vicinity of "Shkin", which could be a reference to Fire Base Shkin or the nearby village of Shkin, both located about 4 miles from the Pakistani border in Paktika Province.
	(2) The Sylacauga (Alabama) Daily Home has published a well done article on the death of Marine Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Robinson, 42, at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 1st. Robinson's parents were told that their only son apparently died in his sleep. A soldier was said to have approached him, but thought he was merely sleeping. Later it was discovered that he was not breathing and he was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother stated that her son did have a heart condition, but not so severe as to exclude him from military service. "I feel like it was his heart," she was quoted as saying. The article goes on to outline Robinson's long and distinguished career in the Marines and also the Marine Corps Reserve. He is survived by his wife of 16 years and his parents.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 7:24 PM - UPDATE -

Timo Smeehuijzen, 20, of Netherlands

The Dutch Ministry of Defense has identified the Dutch soldier who died in a suicide car bombing in Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 15th: Soldaat der 1E Klasse (Private 1st Class) Timo Smeehuijzen, 20. Roughly translated, the article is announcing the arrival of the soldier's body in the Netherlands on Monday, June 18th. A farewell ceremony will take place in Tarin Kowt on Sunday, the 17th, at which point Smeehuijzen's remains will be placed aboard a C-130 Hercules for the flight home. There will be a brief ceremony in the Netherlands Monday with eight soldiers carrying the casket covered with the Dutch flag as the remains are turned over to the soldier's family. He is survived by his parents, a younger sister and his girlfriend.

Sunday, June 17, 2007 9:12 AM - 3 INCOMING - The Associated Press is reporting the deaths of three U.S.-led coalition force members in a roadside bomb attack in Kandahar Province on Sunday, June 17th. Their Afghan interpreter also died in the explosion. We are guessing that the dead soldiers were Americans as the bulk of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan are American. But their nationalities have not been confirmed as of yet.

Monday, June 18, 2007 8:05 AM - 1 INCOMING - The Dutch Ministry of Defense has announced the death of one of their soldiers in a battle with Taliban insurgents near the town of Chora in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Monday, June 18th: Sergeant-majoor (Sergeant Major) Jos Leunissen, 44. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Battalion, 11th Airmobile Brigade of the Royal Netherlands Army. The Associated Press provides an English-language account of the death here.

Monday, June 18, 2007 9:23 AM - UPDATES -
Jos Leunissen, 44, of Duiven, Netherlands	(1) The Dutch media outlet Binnenland is carrying an article that expands a bit on the death of Sergeant Major Jos Leunissen on Monday, June 18th. He was apparently from the town of Duiven, a suburb of Arnhem in the eastern Netherlands. He died near the town of Chora which is about 40 km northeast of the Dutch camp in Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan Province. Roughly translated, the article goes on to state that the Dutch Ministry of Defense cannot say yet exactly what happened to Leunissen. But according to the MOD spokesman he did not die from hostile fire. It would appear to be some sort of accident ... possibly Leunissen was killed by his own ammunition.
	(2) The Dutch media outlet Het Parool has published an article that confirms that Private 1st Class Timo Smeehuijzen, 20, was indeed from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His unit, the 42nd Armored Infantry Battalion, was based out of Oirschot. Roughly translated, the article goes on to say that at the time the suicide car bomber struck, the Dutch vehicle was travelling in the center of the city of Tarin Kowt, only 2 km from the Dutch camp there. The Dutch soldiers most affected by the blast were riding half in and half out of the vehicle in order to keep better watch on their surroundings. Worse, a group of Afghan children had begun to run alongside the vehicle. When the blast happened, seven of those children were killed along with Pfc. Smeehuijzen. Three other soldiers in the vehicle with Smeehuijzen were injured.
	(3) The Canadian Press has reported more details on the Canadian soldier who was killed on June 11th in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, Trooper Darryl Caswell. The 25-year-old soldier was born in Bowmanville, Ontario, but grew up in Clarington, about an hour's drive east of Toronto.

Monday, June 18, 2007 3:58 PM - UPDATE - The DoD has identified the U.S.-led forces soldier who died in the vicinity of Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on Saturday, June 16th, from wounds he suffered when his vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade: Staff Sergeant Roy P. Lewsader Jr., 36, of Belleville, Illinois.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 4:34 AM - UPDATE -
Roy P. Lewsader Jr., 36, of Belleville, Illinois	The Associated Press is reporting in a brief article that although the DoD reported 36-year-old Staff Sergeant Roy Lewsader Jr. as being from Belleville, Illinois, his wife has called Fort Riley officials to say that he was actually from Clinton, Indiana. Lewsander died on June 16th in Afghanistan when a rocket propelled grenade struck his vehicle.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 3:53 PM - UPDATES -
	The DoD has released the identities of the three U.S. soldiers who died in a roadside bombing in the Panjway District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Sunday, June 17th:
		Captain Joshua E. Steele, 26, of North Henderson, Illinois
		Christopher D. Henderson, 35, of Hillsboro, Oregon
		Sergeant 1st Class John M. Hennen, 26, of Vinton, Louisiana
	The Galesburg (Illinois) Register-Mail has a brief article on Steele that mentions that he had previously been deployed to Iraq. This was his first tour of duty to Afghanistan. He was a member of the 1st Infantry Division Transition Team from Fort Riley, KS.
	The Oregonian has published a piece naming Henderson the 100th death with ties to Oregon or southwest Washington in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. According to the DoD release, he was a part of the same unit as Steele and based out of Fort Riley. However, the Oregonian article states that he was based at Fort Lewis, WA ... and was part of a military training team that was in Afghanistan to train Afghan soldiers. Henderson enlisted in the army right out of high school and quickly rose through the ranks, attending Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA, plus air assault school at Fort Campbell, KY, on top of receiving training as a drill sergeant. He had seen duty in Kuwait, Egypt, Kosovo and Bosnia, and was deployed to Afghanistan in January of this year. He leaves behind his wife and an 8-year-old daughter.
	Hennen was a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard. The Sulphur (Louisiana) Southwest Daily News interviewed his mother who said that he had previously been deployed to Iraq, came home for "a little while", then was sent off to Afghanistan. Hennen had set his sights on a military career very early in life, having enlisted as a high school junior, attending boot camp in the summer between his junior and senior years. He is survived by his parents, four sisters, and a four-year-old son.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 5:32 AM - 3 INCOMING - AFP is reporting the deaths of three NATO soldiers in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 20th, citing a NATO source. As usual, the nationalities of the soldiers are not immediately available.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 9:05 PM - UPDATES -
	The Canadian National Defense Department has confirmed that the three NATO soldiers who died in a roadside bomb attack on Wednesday, June 20th, in southern Afghanistan were Canadians. They were part of a resupply convoy travelling about 40 km west of Kandahar City near Sperwan Ghar when the blast happened. Two of the soldiers' names have now been officially released:
		Corporal Stephen Frederick Bouzane, 26, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
		Private Joel Vincent Wiebe, 22, of Canada
	The third name is being temporarily withheld at the request of the family. Both Bouzane and Wiebe were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment based in Edmonton. An article from the Canadian Press reported that the three were travelling between two military checkpoints that were only a few hundred meters apart ... and that somehow insurgents had planted a bomb in the road without being detected. The soldiers were riding in an un-armored, open-topped John Deere six-wheeler.
	According to another Canadian Press article, Bouzanne, 26, was born in Newfoundland, but moved to Toronto's east end as a toddler and was raised there. His mother said that he had always wanted to join the service, although apparently the first few times he signed up as a teen he didn't follow through. But eventually he signed up for good. Bouzane's sister described him as "a pretty quiet guy" who didn't really talk much about his experiences in Afghanistan.
	The Edmonton Sun is reporting that Wiebe had proposed to his girlfriend of two years just before leaving for Afghanistan in mid-February.

Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:09 AM - UPDATES & 1 INCOMING -
	(1) The Canadian National Defense Department has now identified the third Canadian killed in a roadside bomb attack on Wednesday, June 20th, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan: Sergeant Christos Karigiannis of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. An article that appeared in the Edmonton (Alberta) Journal said that his family in Laval, Quebec, has declined comment for now ... but that Karigiannis had been a member of Edmonton's Skydive Eden North group since 1995. "An expert skydiver, he had made more than 750 jumps with the group and was a former member of the Skyhawks, a group of soldiers specializing in complex sky diving formations."
	(2) The Edmonton (Alberta) Journal is carrying an article today that describes 22-year-old Private Joel Wiebe, one of the three Canadians killed in Afghanistan on June 20th, as a native of the Mill Woods neighborhood of Edmonton, Alberta.
	(3) ISAF is reporting the death of a NATO soldier in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 21st, when his vehicle struck a landmine. The soldier was evacuated to a medical facility but died there of his wounds. Another soldier was also wounded seriously enough to be evacuated. Three soldiers were lightly wounded and treated at the scene.

Friday, June 22, 2007 4:33 PM - UPDATES -
Dustin J. Perrott, 23, of Fredericksburg, Virginia	(1) The DoD has confirmed that the NATO soldier who died in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 21st, was an American. Army Sergeant Dustin J. Perrott, 23, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was killed in the vicinity of Miri in Andar District, Ghazni Province, when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Two soldiers from his unit, the 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, NC, had died in the same area last April 12th. At this point, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star has just a brief article stating that Perrott had already served a tour of duty in Iraq from December 2004 to March 2005. Perrott's regimental commander said of him, "He was the kind of leader that infused others with motivation. You just couldn't help but smile when you talked to him." He is survived by his wife, his parents and his sister. The Fredericksburg paper lists his hometown as Spotsylvania. According to another brief article in the Fayetteville (North Carolina) Observer, Perrott had been in the army since March of 2004.
	(2) According to an article from the Canadian Press, Sergeant Christos Karigiannis, one of 3 Canadian soldiers who died in an IED attack in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, June 20th, was 31 years of age.

Saturday, June 23, 2007 5:18 AM - 1 INCOMING - The Associated Press is reporting the death of a U.S.-led coalition servicemember in Afghanistan on Saturday, June 23rd. The victim died in the vicinity of Langar village in Helmand Province in an insurgent attack that involved small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. Two other servicemembers were wounded. We are assuming that the death was that of an American as the bulk of these U.S.-led forces are American.

Saturday, June 23, 2007 7:09 PM - 2 INCOMINGS -
	The Estonian Ministry of Defense has confirmed the deaths of two of their soldiers in a rocket attack in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Saturday, June 23rd:
		Seersant (Staff Sergeant) Kalle Torn, 24
		Nooremseersant (Sergeant) Jako Karuks, 33
	According to an English language Associated Press article, the Estonians were members of an ordnance disposal team taking part in a mine clearing mission. The missile hit during their lunch break leaving two dead and four wounded. Two of the wounded are said to be in serious condition. The two deaths are the first Estonian deaths since they joined the NATO force in Afghanistan in 2003.

Sunday, June 24, 2007 3:52 PM - 1 INCOMING - The British Ministry of Defense is announcing the death of a soldier from the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters in an explosion about 6 km outside of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Sunday, June 24th. Four other soldiers were injured in the blast.

Monday, June 25, 2007 4:29 PM - UPDATE -

Thomas Wright, 21, of Ripley in Derbyshire, England

The British Ministry of Defense has identified the British soldier who died in an explosion about 6 km outside of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Sunday, June 24th: Drummer Thomas Wright, 21, of Ripley in Derbyshire, England. Wright initially enlisted with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in 2003 as a rifleman in B Company, serving in both Kenya and Northern Ireland. Eventually, however, he transferred to D Company and began training as a Drummer in the Corps of Drums. A talented musician, Wright carried out public duties at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle in between deployments to Belize and Afghanistan. He was also an accomplished boxer, competing in regimental tournaments. But perhaps he was best known for "his razor sharp wit, numerous tatoos, quirky dress sense and practical jokes."

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 4:33 PM - UPDATE -
Darrell C. Lewis, 31, of Washington, D.C.	The DoD has identified the U.S. soldier who was killed in an RPG, mortar and small arms fire attack not far from Langar in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Saturday, June 23rd: Captain Darrell C. Lewis, 31, of Washington, D.C. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, KS.