AFGHANISTAN

Even though I've heard "Wounded Soldier" sung by John Steer and Britt Small many times--Helen Baylor's version brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it. I first heard this particular version of the song at Freedom Fest when the Maitland Church Youth Group performed it--and it has haunted me ever since. I felt this was an appropriate place to share it with you.

MAARNG SPC Ciara (pronounced Kee-ra) Durkin, 30, of Quincy, MA died at Bagram Airfield from a non-combat related incident. She was a member of the 726th Finance Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard from West Newton and assigned to Task Force Diamond as part of her finance unit that deployed to Afghanistan in November 2006. Ciara had traveled extensively in Afghanistan handling payroll for her unit. She was found with a single gunshot wound to her head lying near her church on a secure military base and the incident is under investigation by US Central Command. Ciara may have been on her way to or from church when she was killed. She had changed to a nine-to-five shift so she would be safer and apparently had finished work as she had changed into casual clothes. Ciara had asked her relatives to press for answers if anything happened to her while she was deployed. Ciara feared something might happen to her after she had seen things that she didn’t like and had raised concerns that annoyed some people. Though she was openly gay the family does not believe that had anything to do with her death. Family members think that Ciara was killed by a fellow service member, intentionally or accidentally, and they are confident that she did not commit suicide. They are appealing to the Irish government, in addition to American congressmen, for additional help in clearing up the details of her death. Military officials told family members it could take anywhere from three weeks to three months for Ciara’s autopsy report to be released and the investigation could take as long as eight weeks. Ciara was originally from the island of Eanach Mheain in Connemara, Ireland where she was born to an Irish mother and American father Tommy Durkin (now deceased). Her family left Connemara and moved to Boston in 1986. She graduated from Fontbonne Academy in Milton and worked a number of jobs including one in information technology for a healthcare company before joining the Army National Guard in 2005. She admired military discipline and wanted to do something for her country. She had a sense of humor, was very intelligent and hard working. Ciara moved to Quincy a few years ago from Dorchester. She was just home for two weeks with her family early last month. On her way back to Afghanistan, her plane stopped for refueling in Shannon, Ireland, where she called two sisters and a brother who still live there. She had planned to move in with her younger brother Pierce and was looking at working in law enforcement or finance when she returned in January. Pierce last heard from Ciara when she left him a birthday greeting on his voicemail at 1 a.m. Friday EST. She is survived by her mother Angela (Cloherty) Durkin; 5 sisters Maura Durkin, Deirdre Durkin, Fiona (Durkin) Canavan, Aine Durkin and Angela (Durkin) Conneely; 3 brothers Pierce, Tom and Owen Durkin; 18 nieces and nephews; and her many friends, especially her best friend Haidee. She requested to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

CIVILIAN Santa Garcia Ramirez, 33, from Florence, AZ died near Kabul when a suicide car bomber detonated near her convoy. Santa, who was born in Casa Grande, AZ, had been a corrections officer in Florence for 12 years before joining Pacific Architects & Engineers servicing the US State Department working for the NATO led International Security Assistance Force. She had joined PAE in August 2006 and had been in Afghanistan since October as an advisor helping to rebuild their prison system. Other than a Reuters report of the incident the public would not be aware of her death except that Lockheed Martin which is the parent company of PAE sent a notice to its employees. Santa is survived by her husband, Carlos Garcia; one daughter, Soriah Prokopich; her parents, Fermin and Eddy (Ramirez) Mendivil; three brothers, David Garcia, Francisco Garcia, and Joe Bojorquez of Eloy; and six sisters, Marina Bojorquez, Erica Rodriguez, Eddy Rodriguez, Lupita Rodriguez, Naomi Rodriguez and Janette Rodriguez.

CIVILIAN Geraldine Marquez, 31, from Victorville, CA died at Bagram Air Base when a bomb exploded at the front gate the day that Vice President Dick Cheney visited. She lived in Ontario for several years before moving to Victorville. She was a civilian contractor for Lockheed Martin and had previously served in the US Air Force. Her birthday was the day before her death. She was escorting several Afghan truck drivers inside the gate when a suicide bomber approached and blew himself up killing many people. She had been in Afghanistan since October 2006. Her main job was handling incoming shipments of supplies for the base and mostly doing the paperwork for those supplies. Geraldine was born in Nogales, Mexico then moved to several places including Glendora, Ontario and Victorville. She had been home-schooled and wanted a life filled with travel and learning. She joined the Air Force and got out after eight years in June 2003. She then accepted jobs as a civilian contractor for several companies working in Turkey, Germany and, finally, Afghanistan. The youngest of five siblings Geraldine is survived by many family members including her sister, Yuri Abraamyan of Valencia and brother, Alfredo Marquez of Victorville.

USN MA2 Laquita (Pate) James, 33, of Orange Park, FL apparently died of natural causes. She was on a 6-month deployment onboard the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. She was a Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 2nd Class (E-5) supporting operations off the horn of Africa. Laquita graduated from Ribault High School in 1991. She had called home over the weekend to talk to her kids and complained of having flu-like symptoms however an investigation is being done. She is survived by her two sons 16-year-old Stephen and 11-year-old D'Jimon, her father Cecil Pate, sister Cecily Pate, and many other family members and friends.

USAR SFC Merideth L (Howard) Hvolboll, 52, of Alameda, CA died in Kabul when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near her HMMWV. She was assigned to the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion at Fort Bragg, NC. Merideth is the oldest female casualty of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She had a degree in Marine Resource Management, worked briefly as a firefighter in Texas, and was working as a fire safety consultant from her home. Merideth had enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1988. In 1991 she met Hugh Hvolboll—they married in December 2005 after she was called to active duty. They had a home in Alameda as well as an apartment in Waukesha, WI. Merideth is survived by her husband Hugh Hvolboll, cousins Melissa Lanier and Lorraine Stevenson as well as many friends.

USA SGT Wakkuna A Jackson, 21, of Jacksonville, FL died in Kunar. She was assigned to the 710th Combat Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, NY. She and two men were in a vehicle that hit an improvised explosive device. They were moving medical supplies to a new post. Wakkuna graduated in 2003 from Stanton Preparatory School in Jacksonville. She joined the Army in 2004. She enlisted because she wanted to save up money for college and then become a doctor after she left the service. She is survived by her mother and father, Teresita Jackson and Sherman Jackson; two sisters, Shenka and Lisa Jackson; two nephews, Ky'Ree and Keamon Coleman, other relatives and friends.

USAF SrAirman Alecia S Good, 23, of Broadview Heights, OH, died when two CH-53 helicopters crashed into the Gulf of Aden in the vicinity of Ras Siyyan, northern Djibouti, while flying a training mission in the Godoria Range area. Marines and airmen were deployed to Djibouti as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Alecia was assigned to the 92nd Communications Squadron of Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, WA as a tactical radio operator/maintainer. Alecia had graduated from Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School in 2001 and loved snowboarding. She enlisted a month after 11 September. She was assigned to bases in San Antonio, TX, Biloxi, MS and finally at Fairchild. Survivors living in Dixon, CA include her loving daughter, Tabatha Jordyn Good; her parents Paul and Claire; and her brother Paul Good; while her twin sister, Ashley Good resides in Pacifica, CA. Alecia will be buried in Dixon near her family with full military honors in the Silveyville Cemetery. A Trust Fund has been set up for Tabatha. This report was originally listed on my Iraq list until I noticed she should have been here on OEF.

USA 1LT Laura M. Walker, 24, originally of Texas died in Kandahar when an improvised explosive device detonated underneath the HMMWV she and another soldier were in during ground assault convoy operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army’s 864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (Provisional), Fort Lewis, WA. Laura graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY in 2003. In February 2004, she deployed to Iraq with the 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Following that deployment in March of 2005 she deployed to Afghanistan with B/864th Combat Engineer Battalion (Heavy), where she completed her fifteen months as a platoon leader. Most recently she was the Task Force Pacemaker Public Affairs Officer. She wrote articles about her unit’s work and took photographs of their progression building roads in Afghanistan. She is the first woman from Fort Lewis to be killed in Afghanistan and the fifth female service member with Washington state connections to be killed since the onset of the war in October 2001. 1LT Laura Walker is survived by her parents, COL Keith (Class of ‘76) and Valerie Walker; brothers, 2LT Brian Walker (Class of ’05) and Cadet Duncan Walker (Class of ’08); a younger sister; grandparents GEN (Ret) Volney F. (Class of ’50) and Janice Warner, also LTG (Ret) Glenn and Margaret Walker; uncles BG Volney J. Warner (Class of ’76) and Jerry Warner. Laura will be buried at the United States Military Academy’s cemetery at West Point, NY. Photo courtesy of Academy Photo.

Several soldiers died when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed in bad weather in Afghanistan near Ghazni. Two of those casualties were women.

USA SGM Barbaralien Banks, 41, of Harvey, LA was on a supply and transport mission when the helicopter she was on crashed. She was assigned to Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, HI but had been in Afghanistan since June 2004. She was a senior food management supervisor and due to rotate home in a couple of months. Born in New Orleans she earned master’s degrees in business management and computer information system management at Webster University. The oldest of five siblings Barbaralien joined the Army in 1988. One of her sisters, SFC Cassandra Jeanpierre, is currently stationed in Kuwait. Another sibling is in the Marine Corps. Survivors include two grown children: a son, Kent Kelly, and a daughter, Lashuwnta Kelly; her mother, Sylvia Clofer; three brothers, Tommie and Victorian Williams and Fred Clofer; two sisters, Cassandra Bradley and Vanessa Day; and three grandchildren.

SCARNG SPC Chrystal Gaye Stout, 23, of Travelers Rest, SC died as a result of injuries received in the crash of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter she was onboard. Chrystal was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 228th Signal Brigade out of Spartanburg, SC. She was a basketball player who after graduating from Trinity Christian Academy in 2001 joined the Nation Guard a month before the 11 Sep 01 attack on the World Trade Center. Chrystal had worked at banks and in the food service industry and had applied to Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA before she was called to active duty. She is survived by her father Tony Stout of Easley, SC.

The next three women, Carmen, Cristin and Amy, were part of the Management in Sciences for Health (MSH) a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, MA. They had been in Afghanistan as humanitarians helping the Afghans to improve the struggling nation’s public health system. All three were communications employees. They were onboard the Kam Air Boeing 737-200 jet from Herat that vanished from radar screens as it approached the airport in Kabul and crashed into a mountain. Cristi had been working in Kabul since September 2003. Carmen and Amy were on a three-week business trip, implementing a communications plan for a company health-care program that provides services to Afghans in rural villages. All three women were scheduled to return to Cambridge the following weekend. MSH has 350 Afghan workers and 30 group international staff in the country. The company has set up a memorial fund for the three women, which will be used to further the work they dedicated themselves to.

CIVILIAN Carmen Christina Urdaneta, 32, was born 13 February 1972 in Venezuela, raised partly there in Maracaibo and grew up in Topeka, KS but was residing in Brookline, MA at the time of her death. She graduated from Hayden High School where she was on the honor roll, a member of Amnesty International, the International Club, Hispanic Club, campus ministry and the volleyball team. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in human biology from the University of Kansas in 1994 and participated in a study abroad program in France. In 1997 she earned a master’s degree in public health from Boston University’s School of Public Health. She began her professional career at the AIDS Bureau in Boston, where she worked on an epidemiologic project on AIDS. She then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Worldspace Foundation, an organization whose mission is to improve access to information in the developing world. In 1999, Carmen became a senior communications associate in the Family Planning Management Program at Management Sciences for Health. In 2001, she served as the director of communications for the firm’s Equity Project, residing in Pretoria, South Africa. She had worked to combat AIDS in Africa and to improve health services in Angola. She was well known in the global health community for her writing and photography. She returned to Boston in late 2003 where she became a senior communications associate at MSH. Carmen was a key member of the team responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies for MSH's various global health programs. She traveled extensively, visiting program sites throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America to capture firsthand the beneficial impact of MS H initiatives. Carmen is well-known in the global health community for both her writing and photography. Her stories have been featured in a variety of publications, and she was a finalist in several photography competitions. She told stories of the people she met around the world. She captured their faces in photographs. She spoke of how MSH programs affected their lives and what they needed to make their lives better. Her stories, published by MSH and in public health news magazines, along with her photos, had won awards. Carmen had been with working for the MSH for five years. She was in Afghanistan to help develop a comprehensive communications strategy for expansion of Afghanistan’s community-based health care plan. Carmen’s last comments in an email before she boarded the plane were that she loved the country and couldn’t wait to go back and do more. In her spare time, Carmen enjoyed the simple things in life such as reading, music, dancing salsa and merengue, the arts and a good cup of coffee. She was fluent in Spanish and French. The family is setting up the Carmen Christina Urdaneta Memorial Fund, which will probably be a scholarship for studying international health or funding for a project that would benefit the people she tried to help. She is survived by her parents Dr. Leonel Urdaneta and Judy Urdaneta; her mother Lia Urdaneta and Larry Lundquist; brothers Dr. JosŽ Urdaneta of Phoenix, AZ and Dr. Leonel Urdaneta of Manhattan, NY; her stepbrothers, Bo and Justin Bowen of Topeka; her stepsisters, Lea Araujo of CO and Christine Owens of Topeka; her nephew and niece Jace Haizley Bowen of Topeka; other very close relatives in Venezuela; and a host of global family and friends.

CIVILIAN Cristin “Cristi” Gadue, 26, was born in Burlington, VT on 7 September 1978. She graduated from Burlington High School in 1996 and from Tufts University in Medford, MA in 2000 where she studied history and political science and was captain of the women’s fencing team. She started out doing clerical work for Management Sciences for Health. But with the assistance of a group of mentors at the company, Cristi flourished, picking up skills and helping to write grant proposals for a project in Afghanistan. She was soon awarded the prestigious Paul Alexander Fellowship through MSH that could bring her to any of MSH’s sites around the world, naturally she chose Afghanistan. Gadue made her first trip to Asia in the fall of 2003, spending her first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from home. She was there on a three-month traveling fellowship to gain valuable public health field-experience. At the conclusion of her fellowship, she was offered a two-year position in the REACH program reporting her company’s work and communicating their efforts to the US Agency for International Development, which was funding MSH’s presence in Afghanistan. She returned home for about a month, sold her car and prepared to make a major move before returning overseas in April 2004. She was soon in Kabul as a Reporting and Communications Officer where she managed internal communications efforts. She worked as a reporting and communication officer with the rural expansion of Afghanistan’s community-based health care program. The program tries to bring health care to 15 rural provinces in Afghanistan. Since then she had been in Kabul for nearly 16 months, gaining public health experience. Through her work, Cristi interacted with everyone from government ministers to domestic staff. Among the many things Cristi held dear were music, movies, books and animals. She was the only child of Michael Gadue of Burlington, VT. She is survived by him; her mother Nancy Murphy of Rutland, VT, her step-father William Anderson; many other relatives, friends and her beagle, Sebastian.

CIVILIAN Amy Lynn (Niebling) Meeks, 29, formerly of Omaha, NE was residing in Somerville, MA. Amy was a 1994 graduate of Gross High School in Bellevue. She played soccer in high school and at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where she received her bachelor’s degree in English and communication. She worked from October 1999 to May 2001 in Omaha in public relations, advertising and marketing as an account executive. Then Amy worked as an intern for Fleishman-Hillard public relations agency in St. Louis in the summer of 2003. Next she spent a year working for AmeriCorps, a national service agency, before moving to Boston to work in communications for the MHS agency. Meanwhile she earned a master’s degree in international and intercultural communications in June 2004 at the University of Denver. She married lawyer Andrew Meeks in October 2004 in Omaha and had moved to Somerville with Andy. They had recently purchased a home. She was on her first field assignment for MSH providing basic health services to Afghans. Amy had recently been promoted to communications associate, helping develop and steer the company’s outreach efforts. She was part of a team implementing a communications plan for the Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s Community-based Healthcare Program. The program has been operating there since 2003. She arrived in Kabul on January 10 and focused on gathering information and photos that could be used to expand the program’s presence on the organization’s web site. She had been in Afghanistan three weeks, and took striking, sometimes haunting, photographs—including those of children in a refugee camp. She was scheduled to return home for Valentine’s Day. Amy died doing what friends and teachers said she excelled at—helping others. She was passionate about gender issues, communication and fighting to improve global health. She is survived by her husband, Andrew; mother, Margaret Niebling and sister, Devon Niebling, both of Omaha; her grandparents; her in-law’s; several aunts, uncles; cousins as well as her pets Skylar, Willie and Sadie.

CIVILIAN Jamie Michalsky, 23, from Cokato, MN had been visiting a doctor for a hand injury she had suffered weeks earlier in an automobile accident and was shopping in Kabul when a suicide bomber set off the grenades strapped to his body. Jamie had served in Afghanistan for nine months during 2003 with her Army Reserve unit. When her active duty there ended, she remained in the region by going to work under a U.S. military contract held by WorldWide Language Resources, a company based in Andover, Maine, as a Russian-language interpreter with an office in Uzbekistan. Jamie had learned Russian during a year of intensive Army Reserve language training in Monterey, Calif. Jamie was due to come home in about two months. She was a graduate of Cokato High School in 1998 and attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, for a year. After college, she received law enforcement training and worked for the Police Department in Harker Heights, TX, about 60 miles north of Austin, near Fort Hood. She was training to become a full-fledged patrol officer when she was called for active duty in the Reserve. She even became a skydiver. She is survived by her mother Lissa, step-father Dan Everson, brother Sam Kinney, stepsister Laura Kinney, grandparents Don & Alice Michalsky of Cokato, uncle Dan Michaels, aunt Micki Blenkush, and many friends.

USAR SPC Julie Rochelle Hickey, 20, of Galloway, OH was evacuated from Bagram after collapsing on June 30. She died in Landstuhl, Germany on July 4 from a non-combat related illness. She had apparently developed complications from diabetes that she didn’t have prior to enlisting or deploying. Julie was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, OH. A graduate of Westland High School in 2002 Julie was employed by Wal-Mart optical in Obetz. She was going to enroll at Ohio State University before she found out her unit was being mobilized. She left for Afghanistan in November 03. Born 17 January 1984 in Columbus Julie was perfectly healthy when she entered the military and before deploying—she fainted at work, was stabilized and moved to a hospital in Bagram where she was diagnosed with diabetes. Following her transfer to Landstuhl she went into insulin shock and died the day before she was to be sent stateside to Walter Reed. She had been home on leave in May She is survived by her parents Melody Hickey and Athena Myers; her father Joseph Hickey; step-father Terry Bruce; siblings Rachel, Joseph, Stephanie, and Makenzie Hickey, Joshua and Patrick Bruce, Selena and Hannah Myers; grandparents Russell and Loretta Daugherty, James and Janice Bruce, and Helen Hickey; many aunts, uncles, cousins, and countless friends. Julie was very much loved by fiancé, Jeff Lagrange, Aunt Susan Marcum, and special friends Audria Daniels, April Hartman, and Jaime Gomer. Julie was preceded in death by her great-grandmother Cloteen Daugherty. A special thank you went to Major Robin Bruno and Specialist Brian Smith. The entire family loves Julie and are very proud of her. She will be sadly missed. Calling hours were held on 12 July at Schoedinger Hilltop Chapel. Burial was the following morning at Interment Sunset Cemetery. Family and friends were requested to share special memories of Julie at her service as well as by email through www.schoedinger.com.

USAF 1LT Tamara (Long) Archuleta, 23, was from Los Lunas, NM. She was assigned to the 41st Rescue Squadron, 347th Operations Group, 347th Rescue Wing from Moody AFB, GA. The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting crashed into a mountain at night. Three factors apparently contributed to the accident, according to an Air Combat Command accident investigation board report released 3 July 2003. First, the refueling tanker was flying 150 feet below the required altitude of 500 feet. Second, limited light reduced the effectiveness of night-vision goggles, which led to spatial disorientation and loss of situational awareness. Third, the terrain's high altitude 9,000 feet above sea level -- combined with the 30-degree bank during the refueling aircraft's climbing turn made it difficult to maintain the helicopter in the refueling position. They were enroute to Bagram Air Base on a rescue mission. The chopper’s call sign was Komodo 11. Tamara was on the list for promotion to captain and looking forward to her June wedding. A son Donaciano "Donny," her parents Richard and Cindy Long, brother Michael Long, grandmother Rebecca Long, fiancée 1LT Richard Moores and other relatives survive her.

USAF SSG Anissa A. (Shuttleworth) Shero, 31, was originally from Grafton, WV. She was a loadmaster on MC-130H Combat Talon II with 15th Special Operations Squadron from Hurlburt Field, FL that crashed in the Paktika province of Afghanistan. The plane was later found to be overloaded as they flew between Kandahar and the Bande Sardeh Dam near Gardez. Anissa had enlisted in 1992. She met SSG Nathan Shero in 1997 at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. They were married on 1 Sep 01 and bought a home in Navarre, FL.

USN SN Katrina R Grady, died in Bethesda Naval Medical Center, MD. She had been a Seaman (E-1) on board the USS Port Royal and had either been injured or became ill on 21 Mar 02 and was transferred to Bethesda. Since her ship was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom at the time of this incident I have listed her here for the time being but so far have been unable to find out anything else about her other than what you see here. DoD has not issued a News Release about her death however she is listed on the Casualty Report list. Thus far I have not been able to locate a photo of her.

USMC SGT Jeannette L. Winters, 25, was from DuPage County, IL and Gary, IN. She was on a KC-130R Hercules plane that struck a mountainside and exploded as it approached an airfield in the town of Shamsi in Pakistan. The plane was later found to be flying too low at night without night-vision equipment. Jeannette was an E-5 radio operator (satellite communication technician) from Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) based out of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Miramar, CA. VMGR-352, known as the "Raiders," was attached to Combined Task Force 58 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Jeanette joined the Marines and graduated with Platoon 4021 on 20 Jun 97. She was single and survived by her father and five siblings. An article appeared just before Christmas '06 Amid the season's joy, the agony of loss which talks about Jeannette as being the first from IL to perish in Afghanistan.