Our War Dead
Marine Capt. Kyle VanDeGiesen
10.26.2009
VanDeGiesen, 29, a North Attleboro High School football hero who followed his dream of joining the Marines to become a pilot, was killed just before sunrise when the helicopter he was piloting and another U.S. Marine helicopter collided over the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand.
Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV
3.27.2009
Toner, 26, of Narragansett, who worked as a garrison engineer at Camp Shaheen in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, was shot and killed along with a Navy nurse by an insurgent.
Sailor with Rhode Island ties killed in Afghanistan
Video: The Toners talk about their son who was killed in Afghanistan
Army Sgt. Kyle J. Harrington
1.24.2009
Harrington, 24, who grew up in Swansea, Mass., and was serving in the 542nd Maintenance Company, 80th Ordnance Battalion, 593rd Sustainment Brigade, out of Fort Lewis, Wash., died in Basra, Iraq, when someone in his unit backed over him with a forklift. That accident is under investigation.
Swansea soldier on duty in Iraq killed in accident
Family who lost son praying for soldiers • Post a tribute
Message American troops
Contact us
The news staff of projo.com and The Providence Journal welcome information about the status of local military personnel serving in conflict zones. Please e-mail pjnews@projo.com or call the newsroom at (401) 277-7303.
Sen. Whitehouse detects an air of confidence among U.S. troops in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Back from a brief tour of Afghanistan, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Monday that “the baseline” of progress in the U.S. war effort there is better than it might appear from news coverage of rising casualties and the sharp disagreement over how the Obama administration should proceed.
Marine Sgt. Michael Ferschke
8.12.2008
Woonsocket-born Ferschke, 22, a team leader and radio operator in the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, was fatally wounded in a gun battle while conducting a house-to-house search in Fallujah.
Special Agent Nathan J. Schuldheiss
11.01.2007Schuldheiss, 27, of Newport, a civilian working in for the U.S. military in Iraq, was killed along with two other special agents near the Balad Air Force Base when an improvised explosive device burst next to their military vehicle.
Army Sgt. Michael P. Weidemann
10.31.2006Weidemann, 23, of Newport and the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Rhode Island National Guard, was killed while driving a military vehicle on patrol in the Anbar Province west of Baghdad when his armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.
Marine Lance Cpl. Eric P. Valdepeñas
9.4.2006Valdepeñas, 21, of Seekonk and the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, weapons company, reserve unit, of Ayer., Mass., was killed while on patrol in Fallujah when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq's Al Anbar province. He graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in 2003.
Army Sgt. Moises Jazmin
8.27.2006Jazmin, 25, of Providence and the Army's 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, died Aug. 27 in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M2A3 Bradley Vehicle during combat operations.
Staff Sgt. Dale James Kelly Jr.
5.6.2006Kelly, 48, of Richmond, Maine, and the 3-172 Mountain Infantry Unit of the Maine Army National Guard, died Saturday, May 13, in Iraq from a roadside bomb that hit the truck in which he was riding. He grew up in Cranston.
Marine Cpl. Brian St. Germain
4.2.2006St. Germain, 22, of West Warwick and 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif., was killed when the seven-ton truck he was riding in rolled over in a flash flood near Asad.
Army Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan
1.20.2006Flanagan, 22, of Inverness, Fla., and the Army's 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky., died Jan. 20, in Al Huwijah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during patrol operations. He lived in Exeter as a child.
Marine Lance Cpl. Nickolas D. Schiavoni
11.15.2005Schiavoni, 26, of Haverhill, Mass., and the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C., died Nov. 15 from a suicide-vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Karmah, Iraq. His mother lives in Westerly.
Army 2nd Lt. Matthew S. Coutu
6.27.2005Coutu, 23, of North Kingstown and the 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas, died in Baghdad, where enemy forces engaged his convoy with small-arms fire.
Marine Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette
6.23.2005Charette, 21, of Cranston and the Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C., was killed in a suicide bombing with at least three other Marines in an attack near Fallujah.
Marine Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel
11.19.2004Gavriel, 29, of New York, N.Y., and the Marines 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C., died Nov. 19 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He graduated from Brown University.
R.I. Army Reserve Spc. Bryan L. Freeman
11.8.2004An Army Reserve civil affairs soldier, Freeman, 31, died in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds sustained earlier that day when he came under small arms fire while conducting a vehicle search. He was a civil affairs specialist assigned to the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve special operations unit based in Warwick.
Sgt. Christopher S. Potts
10.3.2004 Potts, 38, of Tiverton and the A Battery, 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery of the Rhode Island National Guard, was killed at a traffic checkpoint in Taji, a dozen miles north of Baghdad, when the soldiers came under fire from insurgents.
Marine Lance Cpl. John J. VanGyzen IV
7.5.2004VanGyzen, 21, of Dighton and the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, a rifleman and lance corporal, died as a result of "enemy action" in the Al Anbar province near Syria. He lived in West Warwick as a child.
Army Capt. Christopher S. Cash
6.24.2004Cash, 36, of Tracy, Calif., and the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry, Jacksonville, N.C., died June 24 in Baqubah, Iraq, when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle came under attack by enemy forces using small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. He was a native of Pawtucket.
Video: A dedication ceremony in honor of Capt. Cash
Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew K. Serio
4.5.2004Serio, 21, of North Providence and the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, was killed near Fallujah, Iraq, after his unit arrived to help quell an uprising.
Master Sgt. Richard L. Ferguson
3.30.2004Ferguson, 46, of Fort Carson, Colo., a career military man and member of the Army's 10th Special Forces, was killed in Samarra, Iraq, after the Humvee he was riding in flipped over in an incident that was characterized as "non-hostile." He grew up in Coventry.
Pastor John L. Kelley
2.14.2004 The pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church for 19 years, Kelley, 48, of South Kingstown, had been traveling with the Global Resource Group trying to establish a Baptist church in Baghdad when the taxi they were riding in was attacked by gunmen.
Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Mancini
1.29.2004 Mancini, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the Army's 486th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, based in Broken Arrow, Okla., was killed with six other soldiers when a weapons cache exploded west of Ghazni, Afghanistan. He graduated from Lincoln High School.
Army Capt. Matthew August
1.27.2004 August, 28, of North Kingstown and a commander of B Company, 1st Engineer Battalion out of Fort Riley, Kan., was killed by a homemade bomb in a roadside attack in Khaldiyah.
Chief Warrant Officer Sharon Swartworth
11.7.2003Swartworth, 44, of Virginia and an Army chief warrant officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, was among the six people killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq. She graduated from Pilgrim High School, in Warwick.
Spc. Michael Andrade
9.24.2003Andrade, 28, of Bristol and the Rhode Island National Guard's 115th Military Police Company, died in Iraq when the Humvee he was riding in collided with a fuel truck on a road north of Baghdad.
Army Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger
8.27.2003Belanger, 24, of Narragansett and the Headquarters Service Company, 325th Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army Reserves, based at Ayer, Mass., died in Al Hallia, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle.
Sgt. Charles Todd Caldwell
9.1.2003Caldwell, 38, of Attleboro, was one of two soldiers in Rhode Island National Guard's 115th Military Police Company who were killed when their Humvee struck a land mine on a main supply road outside Baghdad.
Sgt. Joseph Camara
9.1.2003Camara, 40, of New Bedford, was one of two soldiers assigned to the 115th Military Police Company of the Rhode Island National Guard who were killed when their Humvee struck a land mine on a main supply road outside Baghdad.
Capt. Benjamin W. Sammis
4.4.2003Sammis, 29, of Rehoboth and the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Camp Pendleton, Calif., was killed in action when his AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter crashed during combat operations near Ali Aziziyal, Iraq.
Marine 1st Lt. Brian McPhillips
4.4.2003McPhillips, 25, of Pembroke, Mass., and the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.., was killed during a firefight in central Iraq. He graduated from Providence College.
News from Iraq
Updated 10:01 p.m.
World News
A Look Back
8 arrested after protest against war
at R.I. Guard office
PROVIDENCE -- About 25 people protested the war in Iraq on its fifth anniversary, in front of an Army National Guard recruiting office next to the Providence Performing Arts Center.
Your Turn: What have we accomplished in Iraq?
Sen. Whitehouse criticizes Bush on war's anniversary, march planned in Providence
