Air Force Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

            Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Frost, 24, of Waukesha, Wis., died March 3 near Bayji, Iraq in a crash of an Iraqi Army Mi-17 helicopter. He was assigned to the 377th Air Base Wing, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

            The circumstances surrounding the crash are under investigation.

 

Local News

Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Frost, 24, of Waukesha

Waukesha County Airman Killed In Iraq

TOWN OF VERNON - An airman from Wisconsin died in Iraq this week along with seven Iraqi Air Force members in a helicopter crash, military officials said Wednesday.

Staff Sergeant Christopher Frost, 24, went to Mukwonago High School but grew up in the Town of Vernon.

He died Monday near Bayji, Iraq, when the Iraqi Army Mi-17 helicopter crashed, the Department of Defense said.

The other seven people on board were members of the Iraqi Air Force, according to a statement on the Kirtland Web site. There were no survivors.

The circumstances surrounding the accident remained under investigation, but the statement said the crash occurred in a dust storm.

Friends of his family are heartsick.

"Christopher was a great kid. He always smiled, and he always waved when he'd go down the street," said Donna Roepke.

Roepke still lives next door to Frost's parents in the neighborhood where he grew up.

She remembers the last time she saw him.

"He was riding the bike with his two children back in October," Roepke said.

Frost has two young children.

Those who knew him say he was a great father and a great soldier.

"I stayed in contact with his mom and dad and always asked, 'How's Christopher doing?'" Roepke told us. "They would always say he'll be home at such and such a date, or he'll be home for Christmas. Now he's not coming home," she said.

Frost was assigned to the 377th Air Base Wing out of Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

He was just finishing up his second tour in Iraq. He was reportedly scheduled to come home in 20 days.

Frost, who worked in the base's public affairs office, had been deployed in Iraq since September. His role was to support a command team responsible for organizing and training Iraqi security forces.

A six-year veteran of the Air Force, Frost was stationed at the Kirtland base since July 2005.

Frost's grandmother, reached by telephone at home Wednesday night, told The Associated Press it was too early for her to discuss her grandson's death.

"It's just too difficult," Mary Frost said. "It just makes me feel worse than I already do."

An uncle of Christopher Frost also said the family would have no immediate comment.

There have been 86 members of the military from Wisconsin killed in the Iraq war.

86 too many

Renee, that sweet face, never to be kissed again by his mum is the first thought that cam to me when I saw his smile.....heartrending....at times  I can hardly bear it, I don't care about the money, whatever the financial cost etc...but all htose poor young men and women in the forces lost and maimed.....

Renee, that sweet face, never to be kissed again by his mum is the first thought that came to me when I saw his smile.....heartrending....at times  I can hardly bear it, I don't care about the money, whatever the financial cost etc...but all htose poor young men and women in the forces lost and maimed.....

Way too many young lives cut short.

Army Casualties

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Mar. 3 in the Sabari District of Afghanistan, of wounds suffered during combat operations. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N. C.

            Killed were:

            Spc. Steven R. Koch, 23, of Milltown, N. J.

       

Army Cpl. Steven R. Koch March 3, 2008

Posted by The Star-Ledger March 06, 2008 10:09AM

Categories: Afghanistan

Age: 23

Hometown: Milltown

Circumstances: Died from wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device during combat operations In the Sabari district of Afghanistan.

file photo

 

Milltown soldier is killed in Afghanistan

by George Berkin

March 05, 2008, 11:00 PM

Steven R. Koch, a 23-year-old soldier from New Jersey scheduled to return home next month was killed in Afghanistan, military officials and family members said tonight.

Army Cpl. Steven R. Koch, 23, of Milltown in Middlesex County, died Monday in the Sabari District of Afghanistan of wounds suffered during combat operations, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

"My husband and I are very proud of our son," said his mother, Christine Koch, during a brief phone interview tonight. "He died for his country and he died loving his country."

An assistant gunner, Koch was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., Defense Department officials said.

Koch is survived by a wife, Amy, and daughter, Zoe, both of Spotswood, military officials said. He also leaves a brother, William, and his parents, William and Christine Koch, all of Milltown.

Steven Koch had completed his 15-month tour of duty, and was due home next month, his mother said. "This is so difficult, it's too new, I hardly believe he's gone," Christine Koch said.

Defense Department officials said Koch died of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near the Sabari District Center. A second soldier, Sgt. Robert T. Rapp, 22, of Sonora, Calif., also was killed in the attack.

Koch is the 97th service member with ties to New Jersey killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He was promoted posthumously to corporal from specialist, according to military officials.

"Corporal Koch was a highly dedicated paratrooper," said Capt. Henry Rowland, the 1st Battalion, 508th PIR rear detachment commander. "He was dedicated not only to his profession but also in serving this great nation."

Koch joined the Army in March 2006. He arrived to the 82nd Airborne Division in August 2006, after completing Infantry One Station Unit Training and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga.

"He will be sorely missed by all of those who knew him, and our thoughts are with his family during their time of grief," Rowland said.

Koch's decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He also was awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the Parachutist's Badge, military officials said.

(cont)  

Sgt. Robert T. Rapp, 22, of Sonora, Calif.
document.images["viewport_img"].setAttribute('height',imgHeights[0]);

ReneeC___NCalif:

Sgt. Robert T. Rapp, 22, of Sonora, Calif.
document.images["viewport_img"].setAttribute('height',imgHeights[0]);

Army Sgt. Robert "Bobby" Rapp of Sonora was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, the military announced Wednesday.

Rapp, 22, was four weeks from the end of his deployment when the bomber drove a car laden with explosives into the gates of an Afghan government building he was guarding Monday, said his mother, Jennifer Rapp.

He was the 23rd person from the Northern San Joaquin Valley and nearby Sierra foothills to die in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003.

The two most recent were the only ones from Tuolumne County -- Rapp and Army Sgt. Matthew L. Tallman, 30, of Groveland, who died in August in Multaka, Iraq.

Rapp, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, enlisted after graduating from Sonora High School in 2004 as a response to the Sept. 11 attacks, his mother said. He spent four months in Iraq in 2005.

"He said, 'Never again on our soil,' " Jennifer Rapp said. "He felt that he was working to protect America and help the people in those countries."

The attack happened in the Sabari District of Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan and southeast of the capital city of Kabul.

The bomber also killed Spc. Steven R. Koch, 23, of Milltown, N.J. He and Rapp were part of the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

A statement from the division said the soldiers died "of wounds suffered during combat operations." A division representative could not be reached for details Wednesday evening.

Two service members went to the Sonora home of Jennifer and Ted Rapp on Monday evening to break the news about their son.

"They knocked and I opened the door and I saw the military people there," Ted Rapp said. "That was the most horrible thing that can happen to you."

The Rapps recalled a son who had a love of country, a generous heart, an aptitude for sports -- and a mischievous streak.

"He was a pretty classic teen-ager," said his mother, a nurse at Sonora Regional Medical Center. "He was a rascal. Freshman year in high school, he ground up Ex-Lax, put it in his friend's sandwich and was promptly suspended."

Bobby Rapp was on the Sonora High School wrestling and cross country teams and on a race team at Dodge Ridge ski area from age 5 to 14. He also enjoyed hunting and golf.

"He was a giving person," said his father, an ultrasound technologist at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.

"No matter where in the world he was, he would always send his mother flowers for Mother's Day and her birthday and Christmas."

He also was close to his older brother, Patrick Rapp, his parents said.

Bobby Rapp was deployed to Afghanistan in January 2007. His mother said he could not tell her details about his work, but she did know that he was helping to train Afghan police and to bring food and other supplies to the people there.

Longtime friend Jena Anderson of Sonora said Rapp showed his generosity in Afghanistan, an impoverished country that harbored the Sept. 11 terrorists.

"The men treat the girls terribly over there, so when (the troops) gave away stuff, he would give some to the girls," she said.

Anderson knew Rapp from the time she was a baby, because his mother was her day-care provider.

"Bobby had the biggest heart," she said. "He was very outgoing. He was very generous and he loved people."

Rapp had not decided whether to re-enlist when his five-year commitment ended next year, his mother said. He hoped to eventually study kinesiology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, then return to Sonora to work as a physical therapist, she said.

Rapp knew the dangers in Afghanistan. Last year, he gave his family written instructions for his funeral, including a ceremonial rifle volley and playing of the rock classic "Stairway to Heaven."

"Let the world know I died doing what I love," he wrote, "and dying for my country is the greatest honor I could ever receive."

The sergeant's remains will be flown early next week to the airport in Columbia or Modesto, his father said. The family is planning a service later next week -- a public event, as he wished.

"He wanted everyone to be there," his father said, "and he wanted us to throw a party for his guys at Fort Bragg."

Thank You, Renee.   My heart goes out to their family and friends.  Nothing else can be said except "I'm sorry."  The politicians keep talking, bush keeps lying, our Countrymen and women and the soldiers and the innocent children of Irag keep dying.  

These faces should be on TV every night.  Let the people see the faces behind those 'support our troops' stickers.  Let the people see the faces of those who will never again laugh with their children, or play with their dog.  Or, call their mom on Mother's Day.   

How can some people be OK with this?  How? 

So heartbreaking!!!

My sympathy to the families of these very young men.