15 Fort Carson Soldiers Killed Since Last Year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Fort Carson has lost 321 soldiers in more than nine years of war, including 257 killed in Iraq and 64 in Afghanistan.

Fifteen soldiers from the post have died overseas since last Memorial Day.

An Air Force Academy professor and two academy graduates also died this year. They were gunned down at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan on April 27.

Those who died in the last year:

-- Spc. Pedro A. Millet Meletiche, 20, of Elizabeth, N.J., died Aug. 22 at Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, in an insurgent bombing. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"Nothing seemed to scare him," a friend said. "He was ready to take the fight to the enemy."

-- Capt. Dale A Goetz, 43, of White, S.D., died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents bombed a convoy. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"His goal as a chaplain was not to be a social worker, but to be a spiritual guide," a friend said.

-- Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, of Cypress, Texas, died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents bombed a convoy. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He was killed doing what he loved to do -- taking care of his soldiers and making sure they were safe," a friend said.

-- Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, of Canton, Ohio, died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents bombed a convoy. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He was looking forward to becoming a new father," a comrade said.

-- Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36 of Conover, Wis., died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents bombed a convoy. He was assigned to the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group.

The married father of three loved roughhousing with his sons Tyler and Joseph, or just holding his newborn daughter Annalese, a friend recalled.

-- Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26, of Huntington, Ind., died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents bombed a convoy. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"You could put a lot of weight on his shoulders and he would bear it," a friend said.

-- 1st Lt. Mark A. Noziska, 24, of Papillon, Neb., died Aug. 30 in Malajat, Afghanistan, after an insurgent bomb detonated. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He was a quiet professional, unless of course you were talking about a Nebraska football team," a friend said.

-- Staff Sgt. Casey J. Grochowiak, 34, of Lompoc, Calif., died Aug. 30 in Malajat, Afghanistan, after an insurgent bomb detonated. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He really excelled in the Army," his father said. "He decided to be career Army."

-- Spc. Timothy L. Johnson, 24, of Randolph, N.Y., died Sept. 16 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after an insurgent bombing in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He would not leave until the job was complete," a friend said.

-- Staff Sgt. Carlos A. Benitez, 24, of Carrollton, Texas, died Oct. 14 when his patrol was hit by an insurgent bomb between Moqur and Darreh-Ye-Bum, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He never asked anything from anybody, and he was always trying to be better in every aspect of life," a comrade said.

-- Spc. Rafael Martinez Jr., 36, of Spring Valley, Calif., died Oct. 14 when his patrol was hit by an insurgent bomb between Moqur and Darreh-Ye-Bum, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Martinez "worked his butt off" in the war zone and looked after his comrades, a sergeant said.

-- Pfc. Tramaine J. Billingsley, 20, of Portsmouth, Va., died Oct. 14 when his patrol was hit by an insurgent bomb between Moqur and Darreh-Ye-Bum, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Friends described him as a cut-up who kept comrades on edge with fake high-fives and random hugs.

-- Pfc. Dylan T. Reid, 24, of Springfield, Mo., died Oct. 16 in Amarah, Iraq, in a noncombat incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He's always wanted a family," his sister said. "He didn't even care if he got married, but he definitely wanted kids."

--Sgt. Robert C. Sisson Jr., 29, of Aliquippa, Pa., died Feb. 21 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a noncombat incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"He'd come home and every time we saw him, he was just a better man," a family friend said.

-- Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44 of Colorado Springs, died April 27 in Kabul, Afghanistan, after a gunman opened fire at Americans in the airport there. He was assigned to the Air Force Academy.

"He felt as though he was given an opportunity," a comrade said. "You could see it in his eyes every day."

-- Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass., died April 27 in Kabul, Afghanistan, after a gunman opened fire on Americans at the airport. He was a 1999 graduate of the Air Force Academy and was assigned to the 11th Air Force at Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

"He represented the pinnacle or the epitome of everything I'd like to have as a fighter pilot," his commander said.

-- Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn., died April 27 in the Kabul airport shooting. He was a 1995 Air Force Academy graduate and was assigned to the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.

"Whenever anyone was around him, they wanted to excel and do things and be the better person because that is what Frank exemplified," his sister told KSAZ, a Phoenix TV station.

-- Sgt. Ken K. Hermogino, 30, of Edwards, Calif., died May 9 after a vehicle crash in Herat, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Squadron of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

"I love you both and I think about you every day," he said in a videotaped holiday message to his wife and son. "I can't wait to come home."

- By Tom Roeder, The Gazette

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)