DOD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died April 6 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit in Zabul, Afghanistan with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Killed were:
Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 24, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Spc. Wilbel A. Robles-Santa, 25, of Juncos, Puerto Rico, and Spc. Deflin M. Santos Jr., 24, of San Jose, Calif.
For more information, media may contact the Fort Stewart public affairs office at 912-210-9375.
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Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 24, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., died April 6 in Kandahar, Afghanistan,
of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit in Zabul, Afghanistan with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Brigade Combat Team,
3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
A chaplain and another military representative knocked on her door at about 10:35 p.m. Saturday.
Joyce Ward of Oak Ridge knew why there were there.
She learned that her son,
Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 24, had died in southern Afghanistan on Saturday morning
helping a diplomat and two other soldiers deliver books
to children in Zabul province when their vehicle was hit by an explosion.
“He is a hero,” Joyce Ward said. “He gave his life. He put himself in the line of fire to protect others.”
Nancy Ward, Christopher’s grandmother in Arcadia, Fla., said Christopher Ward was part of the convoy
that included diplomat Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of Chicago.
She was the first American diplomat to be killed on the job since Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens
and three others were killed last Sept. 11 in an attack on a United States
diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The five Americans who died Saturday—the three soldiers,
the diplomat, and a U.S. Department of Defense civilian—were delivering
textbooks to children at a new school in Afghanistan.
They were traveling in a convoy of vehicles when a suicide bomb set off by the Taliban exploded,
the Chicago Tribune reported.
Christopher Ward grew up in Arcadia, Fla. He was in Junior ROTC and stayed in Arcadia,
which is east of Sarasota and north of Fort Myers, to finish high school when Joyce moved
to Oak Ridge about 10 years ago.
He came to Oak Ridge in July 2004 and attended Oak Ridge High School before getting a GED later,
Joyce Ward said. He enlisted in the Army in 2006 at 17 and had been in Iraq twice.
His mother said this was his first tour in Afghanistan.
Joyce Ward was at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., on Monday for a “dignified transfer” procedure.
Her son’s body was the first off the plane.
“I wouldn’t want no one else to have to experience it,” she said.
Ward also is survived by his two younger brothers, Matthew, 22, and Travis, 20,
and his paternal grandfather.
Officials have not been able to locate his father.
“He never said he worked for the Army,” Joyce Ward said of her son. “He said he worked for the people.”
Another U.S. service member was killed in a separate attack Saturday.
It was reported to be the deadliest day in the country for the United States in eight months.
Ward, 24, was a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn. Ward joined the Army in November of 2005.
This was his third deployment.
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Spc. Wilbel A. RoblesSanta, 25, of Juncos, Puerto Rico, died April 6 in Kandahar, Afghanistan,
of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit in Zabul, Afghanistan
with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
He joined the Army in October of 2010.
This was his second deployment.
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Spc. Deflin M. Santos Jr., 24, of San Jose, Calif., died April 6 in Kandahar, Afghanistan,
of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit in Zabul, Afghanistan
with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Armor Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
He joined the Army in February 2007, arriving at the unit in May 2011.
He was on his second deployment.
Santos is the youngest of 17 children.
His father was a POW in World War II and was part of the Bataan Death March.
His father was buried in the Philippines.
Delfin
's family said his body will be flown to the Philippines as well
so that he can be buried next to his father.
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
