CNP Presents Bronze Star to Reserve Sailor

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Sheehan, Navy Office of Community Outreach CLEVELAND (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., presented the Bronze Star to Capt. Matthew C. Gratton, a Navy Reserve Medical Corps officer, during a ceremony here Aug. 28.

Although Gratton lives and works in Kansas City, Kas., he regularly drills as the commanding officer of a medical unit at Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Cleveland. He received the medal for actions performed as Battalion Surgeon with the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines in the Al Anbar province of Iraq while deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Read more.

Area soldiers lost in Afghanistan and Iraq

By Margo Rutledge Kissell
Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006

Eight men in uniform with ties to this area have died during the war on terrorism that began after the 9/11 attacks. Most were killed in Iraq; others died in Afghanistan and Qatar.

Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice are:

Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Cifuentes, 25, of Oxford was one of 14 Marine reservists killed Aug. 3, 2005, when their armored vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Iraq. The Miami University graduate and substitute teacher at Talawanda Middle School was assigned to Lima Company 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in Columbus.

Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr., 22, a Lakota East High School graduate, was among 14 Marines killed Aug. 3, 2005, in a roadside bombing in western Iraq. He was assigned to the Lima Company 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in Columbus.

Army Pfc. Tim Hines Jr., 21, of Fairfield died July 14, 2005, at a Washington hospital of injuries from a bomb detonated while he was in a convoy traveling in Baghdad, Iraq. Hines, whose wife was pregnant with their second child when he was killed, was assigned to the 720th Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, 64th Military Police Unit.

Marine Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, 20, of Fairfield died May 9, 2005, after suffering shrapnel wounds in an explosion during combat in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Army Pfc. James H. Miller IV, 22, of West Chester Twp. died Jan. 30, 2005, in an explosion while he was guarding a polling place in Ramadi for Iraq's elections.

Army Sgt. Charles "Chuck" J. Webb, 22, of Hamilton died Nov. 3, 2004, when he was struck in the face by shrapnel from a bomb in Iraq. He was assigned to the 82nd Engineering Battalion.

Army Sgt. Jonathan N. Hartman, 27, was one of three soldiers killed April 17, 2004, when his convoy came under fire near the southern Iraqi city of Diwaniyah. Hartman's mother, Judy, grew up in Warren County and wanted her son buried in Waynesville.

Army Pfc. Marlin Rockhold, 23, of Hamilton, with the 3rd Infantry Division, died May 8, 2003, after he was shot by a sniper while directing traffic at a bridge in Baghdad.

Thank you!

THIS IS HOW OUR SOLDIERS SHOULD BE TREATED!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WHAT YOU DO FOR US!