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Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom has claimed the lives of 18 Fort Sill soldiers, one Lawton man stationed at Fort Carson, CO and the son of Fort Sill’s chief of staff since the onset of major combat operations. These were Fort Sill’s first battlefield casualties since 1991.
The first three victims were from C Battery, 3rd Battalion, 13th Field Artillery, which was assigned to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. They were killed in fighting near what was then called Saddam International Airport on April 3, 2003, when a bomb dropped on the Multiple Launch Rocket System in which they were riding.
Sgt. 1st Class Randall Scott Rehn of Longmont, CO. He joined the U.S. Army in January 1989. He was veteran of the Persian Gulf War.
Sgt. Todd James Robbins of Hart, MI. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1988 and enlisted in the U.S. Army July 27, 1999. He was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm
Spec. Donald Samuel Oaks of Harborcreek, PA. He joined the Army on April 1, 2000.
Lt. Col. Dominic Rocco "Rocky" Baragona was born at Niles, OH. He was a 1982 West Point graduate. He was commanding officer of the 19th Maintenance Battalion. He was killed in a three-vehicle accident May 19, 2003, near Safwan, Iraq. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Spec. Jose Amancio Perez III , combat medic in Headquarters and Headquarters Service Battery, 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery. On May 28, 2003, Perez was driving a humvee in a convoy that was moving north through Iraq when it encountered hostile fire in an ambush.
Spec. Joseph Dewayne Suell, a native of Lufkin, Texas, died on Father’s Day, June 15, of a non-combat related cause. He was a specialist in Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Battery, 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery
Pvt. 1st Class Kevin Charles Ott of Orient, OH entered the Army on Jan. 17, 2002. Served in B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery. He was reported missing June 25, 2003. He believed to have been abducted while guarding a cache of captured explosives near Halabsa, a village in an area where Saddam Hussein’s paramilitary Fedayeen soldiers once had a headquarters. His body was found on June 28.
and
Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe of Roselle, NJ entered the Army on Nov. 29, 1988. Served in B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery. He was reported missing June 25, 2003. He believed to have been abducted while guarding a cache of captured explosives near Halabsa, a village in an area where Saddam Hussein’s paramilitary Fedayeen soldiers once had a headquarters. His body was found on June 28.
Spec. Stephen Michael Scott of Lawton, OK. He served in the Oklahoma National Guard from 2001 until 2002 before joining the Army in August 2002. He died in a non-hostile gunshot incident near Fallujah, Iraq, on Aug. 23, 2003. He was a cook assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, CO
Spec. Rafael Luis Navea of Pittsburgh, Pa., died Aug. 27, 2003, of injuries he received when the humvee he was in drove over an improvised explosive device in Al Fallujah, Iraq. He entered the Army on Dec. 28, 1994. He was assigned to C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 212th Field Artillery Brigade, which deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom on July 29.
Spec. Dustin Knight McGaugh of Derby, KS died from a non-hostile gunshot wound Sept. 30 in Balad, Iraq. He was a fire direction control specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, which deployed to Iraq in early February 2003. He entered the Army on Sept. 9, 2001.
Pvt. 1st Class Stephen E. Wyatt of Kilgore, TX, died Oct. 13, 2003, in Balad, Iraq, when his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to C Battery, 1st Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, 75th Field Artillery Brigade.
Sgt. Keelan Lamont Moss of Houston, was one of six Fort Sill soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery who were killed when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were riding went down near Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 2. He entered the Army in 1998 and was assigned to the 2/5 FA BN Jan. 6, 2003. He was deployed with Operation Iraq Freedom on April 12, 2003.
Spec. Steven Daniel Conover of Wilmington, Ohio, was in Charlie battery, 3rd howitzer section, 2/5 FA. He was a cadet officer in Laurel Oaks’ Air Force Junior ROTC program.
Staff Sgt. Joe Nathan Wilson He entered the service Sept. 18, 1997. A howitzer section chief in 5th section, Alpha Battery, 2-5 FA
Sgt. Ross Alan Pennanen joined the Army on Feb. 23, 2001. Pennanen deployed with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery from Fort Sill, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 12, 2003.
Staff Sgt. Paul A. ‘Tony’ Velazquez was assigned to B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery as a howitzer section chief. He entered the Army Aug. 14, 1992. He was reassigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, on Oct. 17, 2002. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 12, 2003.
Sgt. Joel Perez of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, worked in the second platoon fire direction center, Alpha Battery, 2nd of the 5th.
Staff Sgt. Roland Lee Castro died of a non-hostile gunshot wound Jan. 16 in Camp Cedar II, Iraq. He entered the Army in October 1996.
2nd Lt. Jeffrey Graham of Elizabethtown, KY on Feb. 19, died when a bomb exploded as he was warning others in his platoon of the danger.Jeffrey was leading a patrol on foot when he spotted a bomb strapped to a guardrail and turned to warn others. He was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Fort Riley, Kan.