SSG MATTHEW KEIL Parker, CO Mission Accomplished on Sept. 27, 2008 Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Keil volunteered for his first tour in Iraq because he was single and had hoped to take the place of someone who was either married or had kids. SSG Keil returned unscathed from that tour. He then got married and was sent back as the kind of person that he had volunteered to take the place of. On his second tour of duty, the then…
SPC JACOB LYERLA Milroy, IN Mission Accomplished on Feb. 21, 2015 Army Specialist Jacob Lyerla served as a combat engineer with the 4th Engineer Battalion. He first deployed to Iraq in February 2009, supporting the 555th Engineer Brigade. In May 2009, he deployed from Iraq to Afghanistan. On Sept. 21, 2009, SPC Lyerla was severely injured when he was thrown from the turret of his vehicle during an enemy attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While driving past a bus station…
PO1 Christopher Andrieu Jamul, CA Mission Accomplished on August 25, 2018 On Feb. 5, 2013, Navy PO1 Christopher Andrieu was severely injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Helmand, Afghanistan. Petty Officer Andrieu was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician with Seal Team Five, and on his second deployment. Chris and his team were searching a bridge for IEDs, and after three hours they had found and disposed of four of them. The team was about to rest when…
CPL JOSHUA HOTALING Loomis, CA Mission Accomplished on March 7, 2015 Marine Corporal Joshua Hotaling was on his first deployment when he lost both legs and sustained severe hand injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Sangin, Afghanistan on May 13, 2011. The Mine Sweeper of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Cpl Hotaling was sent to clear a compound in order to secure a place for his Marines to sleep that night. Immediate aid was rendered by his…
Army Corporal Paul Hedge NH In 2010, Paul Hedge enlisted in the Army, inspired to serve his country after the 9/11 attacks and drawn to the discipline and camaraderie of the armed forces. On June 1, 2012, during his first combat deployment, Corporal Hedge was serving as an airborne infantryman with the 1-501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in Afghanistan when he was shot multiple times during a complex insurgent attack on Forward Operating Base Salerno. He…
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