In Memorium

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August 31, 2003

This page is in memorium of a friend of my younger brother's and a fellow soldier to me. His name was Chad Fuller, a soldier with the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, NY. He was one of the first 2 deaths from that unit in Afghanistan since October 2001. He was only 22 and a newly married man when he was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and our mission there. He was from a small town in upstate NY and only graduated from high school in 1998. But he was a soldier and gave his life so that we could live ours.

The following are copies of the news articles written about him, bfore his name was released. Let no soldier go unremembered.





Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghan Combat
Sun Aug 31,11:54 AM ET - AP Wire

KABUL, Afghanistan - Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in a battle with suspected Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan (news - web sites), a U.S. military statement said.

A third soldier was wounded in the fighting in Paktika province. The deaths brought to four the number of American soldiers killed in Afghanistan in the past two weeks. U.S.-led coalition forces have come under attack with increasing ferocity in recent months, and U.S. and Afghan forces have been waging a fierce battle against Taliban guerrillas holed up in southern Afghanistan for nearly a week.

The new deaths took place when U.S. troops on a "combat mission" were attacked northwest of Skhin, a remote town near the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said.

Three soldiers were wounded in the initial fighting, and two later died of their wounds, it said.

A quick reaction force was called in, and two A-10 warplanes flew out of Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan north of Kabul. But the warplanes did not open fire, the military said, suggesting the fighters had fled the scene.

The statement gave no further details on the battle. The third wounded soldier was treated nearby then taken to the main U.S. base in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, the military said. It did not identify the soldiers.

A soldier died from an accidental fall during fighting on Friday, and another was killed by hostile fire near Orgun, also in Paktika province.

The Taliban regime that was ousted in 2001 by the U.S.-led coalition is believed to be reorganizing and regrouping in the mountainous border regions of Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan.



Two Fort Drum soldiers killed, one injured
The Associated Press, Monday, September 1, 2003; 4:45 p.m
Watertown Daily Times

. FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Two 10th Mountain Division soldiers were killed Sunday and one was wounded while fighting in Afghanistan, Army officials said.

Fort Drum officials did not identify the soldiers pending notification of their families.

During the past decade, the 10,000-member light infantry division has been the military's most deployed unit. More than 4,000 Fort Drum soldiers are currently deployed in Afghanistan, 1,000 in Iraq and 200 in the Horn of Africa.

The 10th Mountain troops were the first regular Army unit sent to Afghanistan, where they participated in Operation Anaconda and saw some of the heaviest fighting.

These deaths are the first in the division has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in October 2001.



10th Commander Hails Slain Soldiers As 'Brave Americans'
Monday, September 01, 2003, 3:11pm
WWNY TV News

The 10th Mountain Division's new commander hailed two soldiers killed in Afghanistan as "brave Americans" who gave "their lives to protect our country and keep the peace."

Brig. General Lloyd Austin III's comments were made Monday, after the U.S. miltary confirmed two soldiers from the 10th died of combat wounds Sunday in Afghanistan.

The two are from the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Brigade, the 'Warrior Brigade.'

A third soldier from the brigade was wounded, but was 'treated and stabilized,' the Los Angeles Times reported.

All three soldiers were rushed to Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. The two died there of their wounds.

The soldiers' names were not released as of 2:50 p.m. Monday.

"Our whole nation honors their memory and our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones they leave behind," said Austin.

These are the first combat deaths the 10th has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in October, 2001.

The fighting took place in Paktita province, in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.

U.S. troops were patrolling northwest of the border town of Shkin when the fight began, said U.S. military spokesman Colonel Rodney Davis at a press conference in Bagram.

All three soldiers were wounded in the initial assault, and two of the soldiers later died, Davis said.

The patrol was aimed at flushing out small groups of former Taliban fighters, the Times reported.

A U.S. Rapid Reaction force was called in and a 90 minute fight followed.

Two A-10 warplanes were called in for air support but didn't open fire, the military said.

The soldiers' deaths came after a U.S. special operations solduier was killed on Friday in a fall during fighting in Zabul province.

A week earlier another U.S. soldier was killed in combat in eastern Afghanistan.

In all, 34 soldiers have been killed in action in Afghanistan, and 167 wounded.

There are between 8,000 and 10,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan. 4,000 of them from Fort Drum. Another 1,000 10th Mountain soldiers are deployed to Iraq and 200 are in the Horn of Africa.