SGT MICHAEL BECK Rocky Mount, NC Mission Accomplished on Dec. 5, 2015 Army Sergeant Michael Beck was on his first deployment when he lost his left leg, and sustained injuries so severe they led to the eventual amputation of his right leg above the knee after a mortar blast in Baghdad, Iraq on April 6, 2008. Having just returned to base in the Green Zone following a day-long mission with the 1132 Military Police Company, 95 Battalion, SGT Beck stowed…
IN MEMORIAM SSG MICHAEL DOWNING Middleboro, MA Mission Accomplished on February 27, 2010 Army Staff Sergeant Michael Downing was on his second deployment, serving as an Infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division and the 27th Brigade Combat Team (Army National Guard), when he lost both legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in Afghanistan in September 2008. The force of the blast blew SSG Downing from the truck he was in. Quick action by patrol leaders secured the area,…
SFC Jacque Keeslar Fallbrook, CA Mission Accomplished on Nov. 19, 2011 On June 27, 2006, while on a mission to eliminate a local terrorist cell in Al Anbar Province, Army Sergeant First Class Jacque Keeslar was thirty days from the completion of his 12-month tour in Iraq when he was severely injured by an explosion. The improvised explosive device (IED) that was detonated directly underneath his Stryker, pinned him in the vehicle’s gun station and pulverized his legs. After an…
Cpl Kevin Blanchard Crozet, VA Mission Accomplished September 30, 2017 On June 30, 2005, Marine Corporal Kevin Blanchard, a combat engineer, was on patrol in northwest Iraq with the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). There were four other Marines in the vehicle, but Cpl Blanchard was the most severely injured, losing his left leg and sustaining severe damage to his right. Cpl Blanchard says the only reason…
CAPT CAMERON WEST Acworth, GA Mission Accomplished on Dec. 12, 2015 On Oct. 15, 2010, Marine Captain Cameron West, serving with the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, was returning to his platoon’s outpost in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province’s Sangin District after leading a hunt for Taliban insurgents when he received orders to check a compound where suspected Taliban fighters were congregating. Capt West was leading the platoon when a pressure plate improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered, causing a…
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