Ft. Lewis soldier from Vancouver 1 of 8 killed
FORT LEWIS, Wash. - A Vancouver man was one of eight Fort Lewis soldiers killed in a single day in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said.
Twenty-five-year-old Pfc. Christopher Ian Walz, a member of the 5th Stryker brigade that deployed in July, was killed Tuesday when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device.
Six other Fort Lewis soldiers were killed in the same attack. They were identified Thursday as:
• Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y.
• Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas.
• Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind.
• Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, Mo.
• Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La.
• Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, Ill.
An eighth Stryker soldier from Fort Lewis was killed in a separate attack on the same day. The name of that soldier has not been released.
The 5th brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis is the only Army Stryker unit in Afghanistan.
The eight Stryker fatalities made October the deadliest month of the war for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.
The first attack, which killed seven Strykers while they were on patrol in their vehicle, also killed an Afghan civilian, U.S. forces spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said.
About three and a half hours later, another Stryker vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb and small arms fire, ABC reported. One American soldier was killed and two were wounded.
Capt. Adam Weece, a spokesman for American forces in the south, said both attacks occurred in Kandahar province.
Walz's aunt, Carla Burns of Vancouver, told The Vancouver Columbian he had come home recently on leave and had been back in Afghanistan for about 10 days when he was killed Tuesday.
Burns said his mother and other relatives were in Delaware to claim his body and return it Thursday to Vancouver.
President Barack Obama went to Dover Air Force Base overnight to honor the return of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, including the eight soldiers from Fort Lewis.
Among those who met with Obama were the family members of Sgt. Dale Griffin of Terre haute, Ind., the son of a Mormon bishop, a champion wrestler and college student who was struggling to find his way when he turned to the military.
Like the other fallen soldiers, his body came home in a line of flag-draped coffins saluted by the president.
Family friend Christopher Newton says Griffin was tough and resilient. Griffin attended Virginia Military Institute was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2000 All-Academy Wrestling Championship.
The deaths bring to 55 the total number of American troops killed in October in Afghanistan. The previous high occurred in August, when 51 U.S. soldiers died and the troubled nation held the first round of its presidential election amid a wave of Taliban insurgent attacks.
The deadliest month of the Iraq conflict for U.S. forces was November 2004, when 137 Americans were killed during the assault to clear insurgents from the city of Fallujah.
"A loss like this is extremely difficult for the families as well as for those who served alongside these brave service members," said Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, a military spokeswoman. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who mourn their loss."
The loss of life followed one of the worst days of the war for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since they launched air strikes in 2001 to oust the Taliban from power.
On Monday, a U.S. military helicopter crashed returning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in western Afghanistan, killing 10 Americans including three DEA agents. In a separate crash the same day, four more U.S. troops were killed when two helicopters collided over southern Afghanistan.
U.S. military officials insisted neither crash was the result of hostile fire, although the Taliban claimed they shot down a U.S. helicopter in the western province of Badghis. The U.S. did not say where in western Afghanistan its helicopter went down, and no other aircraft were reported missing.
Those casualties marked the Drug Enforcement Administration's first deaths since it began operations here in 2005. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium - the raw ingredient in heroin - and the illicit drug trade is a major source of funding for insurgent groups.
Twenty-five-year-old Pfc. Christopher Ian Walz, a member of the 5th Stryker brigade that deployed in July, was killed Tuesday when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device.
Six other Fort Lewis soldiers were killed in the same attack. They were identified Thursday as:
• Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y.
• Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, Texas.
• Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind.
• Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, Mo.
• Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, La.
• Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, Ill.
An eighth Stryker soldier from Fort Lewis was killed in a separate attack on the same day. The name of that soldier has not been released.
The 5th brigade, 2nd Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis is the only Army Stryker unit in Afghanistan.
The eight Stryker fatalities made October the deadliest month of the war for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.
The first attack, which killed seven Strykers while they were on patrol in their vehicle, also killed an Afghan civilian, U.S. forces spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said.
About three and a half hours later, another Stryker vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb and small arms fire, ABC reported. One American soldier was killed and two were wounded.
Capt. Adam Weece, a spokesman for American forces in the south, said both attacks occurred in Kandahar province.
Walz's aunt, Carla Burns of Vancouver, told The Vancouver Columbian he had come home recently on leave and had been back in Afghanistan for about 10 days when he was killed Tuesday.
Burns said his mother and other relatives were in Delaware to claim his body and return it Thursday to Vancouver.
President Barack Obama went to Dover Air Force Base overnight to honor the return of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, including the eight soldiers from Fort Lewis.
Among those who met with Obama were the family members of Sgt. Dale Griffin of Terre haute, Ind., the son of a Mormon bishop, a champion wrestler and college student who was struggling to find his way when he turned to the military.
Like the other fallen soldiers, his body came home in a line of flag-draped coffins saluted by the president.
Family friend Christopher Newton says Griffin was tough and resilient. Griffin attended Virginia Military Institute was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2000 All-Academy Wrestling Championship.
The deaths bring to 55 the total number of American troops killed in October in Afghanistan. The previous high occurred in August, when 51 U.S. soldiers died and the troubled nation held the first round of its presidential election amid a wave of Taliban insurgent attacks.
The deadliest month of the Iraq conflict for U.S. forces was November 2004, when 137 Americans were killed during the assault to clear insurgents from the city of Fallujah.
"A loss like this is extremely difficult for the families as well as for those who served alongside these brave service members," said Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, a military spokeswoman. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who mourn their loss."
The loss of life followed one of the worst days of the war for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since they launched air strikes in 2001 to oust the Taliban from power.
On Monday, a U.S. military helicopter crashed returning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in western Afghanistan, killing 10 Americans including three DEA agents. In a separate crash the same day, four more U.S. troops were killed when two helicopters collided over southern Afghanistan.
U.S. military officials insisted neither crash was the result of hostile fire, although the Taliban claimed they shot down a U.S. helicopter in the western province of Badghis. The U.S. did not say where in western Afghanistan its helicopter went down, and no other aircraft were reported missing.
Those casualties marked the Drug Enforcement Administration's first deaths since it began operations here in 2005. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium - the raw ingredient in heroin - and the illicit drug trade is a major source of funding for insurgent groups.