Stryker soldier killed in Afghanistan
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — The Defense Department says a Joint Base Lewis-McChord Stryker soldier from Ohio has been killed in Afghanistan.
The department says 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Wesley Williams of New Carlisle, Ohio, was killed Monday in Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
The News Tribune reports Williams served with Lewis-McChord's 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which deployed last month to replace another Stryker unit in southern Afghanistan.
Williams joined the Army in 2005. He reported to the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany, in 2006 and deployed with the unit to Iraq in 2007 as a radio telephone operator.
The Army assigned him to Lewis-McChord's 4th Brigade in February 2009, and he deployed to Iraq later that year as a rifleman.
The newspaper says he was an infantry squad leader in this Afghan deployment.
The department says 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Wesley Williams of New Carlisle, Ohio, was killed Monday in Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
The News Tribune reports Williams served with Lewis-McChord's 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which deployed last month to replace another Stryker unit in southern Afghanistan.
Williams joined the Army in 2005. He reported to the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany, in 2006 and deployed with the unit to Iraq in 2007 as a radio telephone operator.
The Army assigned him to Lewis-McChord's 4th Brigade in February 2009, and he deployed to Iraq later that year as a rifleman.
The newspaper says he was an infantry squad leader in this Afghan deployment.
So sad. Same age as my son-in-law who serves in the Air Force and my nephew who leaves on his second deployment soon. I think it's important to think about things like that and remember that these service men and women who die over there are more than just names on a list. They are husbands and wives, sons and daughters, dads and moms, and more. And they are heroic Americans who proudly gave their lives for their country and their families. Thank you to them and to their families for the greatest sacrifice.
R.I.PÂ my fellow warrior
Condolences to this man's family and friends. It would be so great if we didn't have to have so many troops there, but apparently the Afghan troops are quite dependent on US support. Getting out of there is not going to be easy.
I am so weary of reading about good young people dying in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., and there seems to be no end in sight. Â All I can do is say thank-you to him (which doesn't seem nearly sufficient) and condolences to his poor family. Â So very sad.