Afghanistan: Face of War

 

 

 

Pfc. Cody Towse was killed at the age of twenty-one by an improvised device in Sanjaray, Afghanistan. He died while attempting to save one of his fellow soldiers. As the Army medic rushed to help the wounded a second blast went off and took his young life. He had previously received a 'medic ribbon' for saving another life.

Towse was fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a military medic. He graduated from Salem High School and love the music of the Beatles and Johnny Cash. Towse was an avid reader. He is survived by his parents and two brothers and a sister.

Kyrgyzstan: Faces of War

 

 

 

Twenty-seven year old Air Force Captain Mark Tyler Voss was killed in a Kyrgyzstan air crash. The young pilot was refueling military craft for Afghanistan. Voss was a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. The Boerne, Texas grew up on a farm helping out his grandfather. The two were inseparable.

Voss always loved flying. His major was Aeronautical Engineering. Voss was made Aircraft commander just two months ago. He was single

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

Spc. Brandon Joseph Prescott was just twenty-four when he was killed by an improvised explosive device in Maiwand District, Afghanistan. The native of Bend, Oregon was one of five soldiers killed in the blast. OregonLive.com reports on the young soldier.

Prescott was the younger in the family's first set of twin boys, born in West Covina, Calif., said his older brother, Aaron. The second set of twins, Jake and Josh, now 23, arrived soon after.

Prescott grew up in Dana Point, Calif., and graduated from Dana Hills High School in 2006. Two years later, their mother moved the brothers to Bend, where he took classes at Central Oregon Community College. Their father, Joseph Prescott, lives in Montgomery, Texas; their mother, Tracey Prescott has returned to Dana Point.

She said her son volunteered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and took part in a firefighting academy before joining the Army in 2010 in Portland.

Prescott was due to return home in September. However, he signed up for another three years when he discovered he would have to leave his unit behind, Aaron Prescott said.

The older twin said he spoke to Prescott on the phone about four hours before he was killed. The soldier said he loved and missed his family He is survived by his mother, father and three brothers.

"He was a hero and an inspiration for all of us," Aaron Prescott said. "Before he left for Afghanistan, he told us that if he died, he wanted us to be proud of him and hold our heads up because we know he was doing something he loved."

Tracey Prescott described Prescott as a selfless, humble man who loved his family and the beach.

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

United States Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin was killed in Afghanistan outside the Kandahar Airfield. The thirty year old airman was married to Sonya Fannin for several years. He was a native of Morehead, Kentucky and loved camping and fishing. He graduated from Rowan County High School in 2001.

The Sgt. had been in the Air Force for twelve years and this was his third tour in Afghanistan. He was an air surveillance technician on E-3 AWACS aircraft.

His family said in a statement, " Daniel always had a smile and kind words, and had a heart of gold."

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

Spc. Delfin Santos was killed in Zabul, Afghanistan at the age of twenty-four. Santos was on his second deployment to that nation. The soldier had been in the military six years. S

antos was killed when he was on his way to deliver school books for the Afghanistan children.

His father was a Prisoner of War in World War II and was part of the Bataan Death March. His body will be flown to the Philippines to be buried next to his father. Spc. Santos was from San Jose, California.

Santos was the youngest of seventeen children. This is the Christmas greeting he sent to his sixteen siblings.

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

 

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jarett Yoder was only 26 years old when he was killed in Afghanistan. He was an piloting a AH-64 Apache Helicopter that crashed. Yoder attended Oley Valley High School in Oley, Pennsylvania (near Reading). Afterwards, he went to Reading Community College.

Yoder joined the military in 2005. He had previously served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2008 in the Infantry. He learned to become a pilot of Apache helicopters in 2010.

He had just married his wife Heather.

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

 

Air Force Academy graduate Capt. James Steel was killed in Eastern Afghanistan. The F-16 pilot was twenty-nine years old. The Tampa, Florida native was following in his father's footsteps by joining the Air Force. Major General Robert Steel and his wife Dee had five children and four of them entered the Air Force. This includes Capt. Steel's twin brother Jonathan.

Daily Kos quoted Captain Steel's father about his family:

James and Jonathan, who are our first set of twins, both went to the academy, one year apart. James is ahead of Jonathan by one year, who is at Laughlin finishing up his undergraduate pilot training. Their younger brother, Christopher, graduated the academy as well and is going to medical school at the Uniform Services University in Bethesda, Md. Out of our youngest set of twins, Paul is in basic training wanting to be a (joint terminal attack controller). And our oldest son, Bob, is in the process of applying for an officer training school slot.

Afghanistan: Faces Of War

 

 

Sgt. Michael C Cable from Philpot, Kentucky was killed in action in Shinwar District in Nangarhar Province. The solider was just twenty-six years old. He attended Daviess County High School where he excelled in cross country track. Cable had served one tour of duty in Iraq and was due to return home from Afghanistan in June. The solider was single.

Afghanistan: Faces Of War.

 

 

 

 

Pfc. Derek McConnell was from North Caldwell, New Jersey. He died this week from wounds he suffered on July 23, 2011. For the last 20 months he has struggled to survive the extensive injuries he suffered from an explosive device while in Afghanistan. He was attempting to rescue another soldier when he stepped on it.

He lost both legs in the explosion, head injuries and kidney damage. He suffered over the nearly two years bouts with pneumonia and infections. He was in the ICU over fifty days.

Derek was twenty-three years old and was engaged to Krystina Dresler. They had recently won an online contest awarding them a $80,000 wedding.

He died on March 18 of complications from his wounds

Afghanistan: Faces of War

 

 

Captain Sarah M. Knutson Cullen was killed in Kandahar Province at the age of twenty-seven. The West Point graduate was from Eldersburg, Maryland. This was her first deployment to Afghanistan. She attended Liberty High School were she was in student government. She loved to ski, ran track and be in her high school musical. She was fluent in Spanish.

At West Point she studied law and was a member of the Judo team. She married a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot just four months ago.