Army Pvt. Jhanner A. Tello

Died December 10, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

29 year old Jhanner Tello, of Los Angeles; assigned to the 3rd Aviation Support Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Dec. 10 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat-related incident.

A helicopter mechanic, Tello was assigned to the 3rd Aviation Support Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Family members said he had aspirations to go back to college for a degree in aviation mechanics and dreamed of eventually owning his own shop.

“He was a very happy man,” said Lusin Mathews-Gezalyan, his ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Giovanny Tello-Gezalyan, 9, and Christian Tello-Gezalyan, 8.

Army Pvt. Charles Y. Barnett

Died November 20, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

19 year old Charles Barnett, of Bel Air, Md.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died on Nov. 20 of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident in Tallil, Iraq.

Soldier ‘always had a smile on his face’

The Associated Press

One day, Charles Yi Barnett was sitting in a truck when his commanding officer walked up and asked him how he was doing.

“It seemed like he was waiting for me to ask that,” Lt. Col. Scott Kendrick recalled. “He said, ‘I’m on top of the world.”’

Barnett, 19, of Bel Air, Md., died Nov. 20 in a non-combat related incident in Tallil. He was assigned to Fort Hood.

In his free time, he sketched fantasy characters and portraits.

“He was just smarter than any of us,” said a brother, Jason. “And he always had a smile on his face.”

His mother, Ipun “Yvonne” Dashiell, didn’t want her baby boy joining the Army during war. “I said, ‘No, you’re not going anywhere. I want you to stay here so I can care for you and protectyou,”’ Dashiell said. “He told me, ‘Mom, I’m not a baby anymore.”’

He also is survived by his father, Kenneth, and stepfather, Walter “Mike” Dashiell Sr.

Barnett enlisted in the Army right out of high school to fulfill his adventurous dreams of becoming a SWAT team member.

“When he was 14, that’s all he talked about,” said Jason. “He just wanted to get his foot in the door and do something different with his life.”

Army Pvt. Eugene M. Kanakaole

Died June 11, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

19 year old Eugene Kanakaole, of Maui, Hawaii; assigned to the 87th Engineer Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas; died June 11 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat-related incident.

Maui soldier dies in Iraq

The Honolulu Advertiser

A 19-year-old Kihei, Maui, man serving with the Army in Balad, Iraq, died of injuries suffered in a noncombat-related incident on June 11, the Department of Defense reported yesterday.

Pvt. Eugene D.M. Kanakaole, a graduate of Maui High School, was assigned to the 87th Engineer Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

The incident is under investigation, the military said. Balad is about 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Geraldine Serrao, his paternal grandmother, described Kanakaole as “a real cool guy” who “never got into trouble.”

On his own MySpace page, Kanakaole gave himself the moniker “hawaiiansoljah” and inserted as his quote, “id rather die on my feet then live life on my knees.”

Kanakaole last signed on to his MySpace page on May 31. He last listed his mood as “mischievous.”

A group of 104 soldiers from the 87th Engineer Company was sent to Iraq in early May on a 15-month deployment. Their job is primarily to detect and clear roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices, 1st Lt. Benjamin Washkowiak, the company’s executive officer, told the Killeen (Texas) Daily Herald last month.

The 87th’s engineers trained for this mission at Fort Hood and at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., the newspaper reported. In Iraq, the 87th is working in tandem with the 5th Engineer Battalion out of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Kanakaole is the first service member whose hometown is in Hawaii to die in Iraq since Dec. 31, when Sgt. Reno S. Lacerna, 44, of Waipahu died of a noncombat-related illness in Al Qayyarah, Iraq.

Lacerna was assigned to the 87th Corps Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Ga.

Army Pvt. Tyler J. Smith

Died March 21, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

22 year old Tyler Smith, of Bethel, Maine; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died Mar. 21 at Forward Operating Base Falcon near Baghdad of wounds sustained when the base received indirect fire.

Maine soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

BETHEL, Maine — A 22-year-old soldier from Bethel has become the latest Maine service member killed in Iraq.

The Defense Department announced Monday that Army Pvt. Tyler Smith died Friday of wounds received when his forward base near Baghdad received indirect fire. The Army would not elaborate on the circumstances, but a spokesman said indirect fire typically describes a mortar or rocket attack.

Smith, a 2004 graduate of Telstar Regional High School, was a combat engineer assigned to a unit of the 3rd Infantry Division.

A spokesman at Fort Stewart, Ga., said Smith joined the Army in December 2005 and arrived in Iraq around the end of November.

Gov. John Baldacci spoke with Smith’s parents, Martin and Wendy Smith. The governor said he will order that flags be lowered to half-staff on the day of the funeral.

“As a state, we join together and mourn the loss of another young soldier from Maine,” Baldacci said in a statement. “This is a terrible loss for his family, his friends and his community. We honor Private Smith’s sacrifice and will keep his family in our hearts and prayers.”

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation also issued statements honoring Smith’s sacrifice and mourning his loss.

Martin and Wendy Smith could not be reached for comment.

Telstar’s dean of students, Charles Raymond, remembered Tyler Smith as a “straight-shooter” who was fun-loving but responsible. “He was a leader among his peers,” Raymond said.

Smith, who excelled in industrial arts, had worked with his father in construction and was very knowledgeable about that field, the school official said.

Smith died two days before The Associated Press tally of the death toll of U.S. military forces and civilians working for the military in Iraq reached 4,000.