Army Spc. Omar Soltero
Died January 31, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
28, of San Antonio, Texas; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.; died Jan. 31 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.
Army Spc. Joshua R. Campbell
Died January 29, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
22, of Bennett, Colo.; assigned to the 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Jan. 29 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Spc. Shawn A. Muhr.
Army Spc. Shawn A. Muhr
Died January 29, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
26, of Coon Rapids, Iowa; assigned to the 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Jan. 29 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Spc. Joshua R. Campbell.
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Muhr ‘really blossomed’ while in Army
By William Petroski
The Des Moines (Iowa) Register
COON RAPIDS, Iowa — An Iowa soldier who was killed in Afghanistan is being recalled as a top-notch athlete and a warm, generous person who loved serving his country.
Army Spc. Shawn A. Muhr, 26, of Coon Rapids died Jan. 29 when his military truck was struck by a roadside bomb, said his father, David Muhr. Also killed in the attack was Spc. Joshua R. Campbell, Defense Department officials said.
Muhr was a 2003 graduate of Coon Rapids-Bayard High School, where he wrestled and played football. He placed sixth in his weight class in the 2003 state wrestling tournament, and he held a school record for pins.
Word spread quickly through this western Iowa community of 1,300 after military casualty representatives visited the Muhr home about 6 p.m. Saturday. News of the soldier’s death was announced at Sunday worship services here.
Muhr was the 75th person with Iowa ties who has died in Iraq, Afghanistan or other combat zones since the Iraq war began in March 2003.
Muhr joined the Army six years ago after working for about a year at a Council Bluffs meatpacking plant.
He was a truck driver in a military transportation unit and was on a mission with a convoy of Army trucks when he was killed, family members said.
“He had found his niche in the military,” said Bill Orlano, a guidance counselor at Coon Rapids-Bayard High School. “He was really happy about being in the military and serving his country. He really blossomed there.”
Muhr was big man, standing about 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing more than 200 pounds. But he was also known as an easygoing person who enjoyed a good laugh.
“He was about as ornery, happy, joking and dry-humored as they ever get,” said David Muhr, who is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War and vice commander of American Legion Post 357 in Coon Rapids.
Muhr’s sister, Erica Muhr-Burris, 30, hugged her dad Monday afternoon as the family shared stories around the kitchen table about their son and brother.
“I called him biggest little brother. … He was the happiest kid you will ever meet. He was my protector,” his sister said.
Jacob Schroeder, who was a member of the Coon Rapids-Bayard wrestling team with Muhr, sent a Facebook message to friends asking them to keep the Muhr family in their prayers.
“He was a good man, a good friend and a good American,” said Schroeder, a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise.
“Shawn was one of those guys who would take the shirt off his own back to make you happier,” Schroeder said.
“If you wanted someone’s opinion, you could go to him and talk about what was going on. He always had a smile on his face. It didn’t matter what was going on. He looked to the best side of things,” Schroeder said.
Muhr had previously been deployed to South Korea and Iraq and was assigned to Afghanistan in October.
He came home to Coon Rapids on leave shortly after Christmas and returned to Afghanistan on Jan. 12.
He was his usual warm self while home, spending lots of time with family and enjoying himself, family members said.
Muhr was married to Winifred Olchawa and had a stepchild, Diven, relatives said.
Other survivors include his father; his mother, Shirley Muhr; a brother, Aaron; and three sisters, Muhr-Burris, Vennessa Warneka and Delinda Scheuermann.
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Muhr remembered as ‘always uplifting’
By Jeff Glaze
The Des Moines (Iowa) Register
COON RAPIDS, Ia. — Army Spc. Shawn A. Muhr was remembered Feb. 6 in the high school gym where he wrestled eight years earlier.
About 600 people attended his funeral service at Coon Rapids-Bayard High School and paid their respects to the fallen soldier.
Muhr, 26, affectionately known as “Ox” by friends and family, was killed Jan. 29 in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded under his convoy vehicle. Muhr had volunteered to be a heavy truck driver — a very dangerous job.
Muhr graduated from Coon Rapids-Bayard High School in 2003 and enlisted in the Army in 2005. He placed sixth in his weight class at the 2003 state wrestling tournament and set a school record for pins.
Maj. Gen. Rodney Anderson eulogized Muhr on behalf of members of the 546th Transportation Company, 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Anderson, quoting members of Muhr’s brigade who are still in Afghanistan, said: “Strong, great guy, very reliable soldier … Larger than life, always uplifting … Exceptional soldier, best operator, we will roll on in his honor.”
Deacon Louie Meiners of Annunciation Catholic Church in Coon Rapids urged family and friends to use Muhr’s memory to better themselves.
“Shawn will help us,” Meiners said. “He will lead us even in death. We need to take that spirit, take that memory to become a better person.”
A collection of Muhr’s favorite songs was played during the funeral, including “Ballad of the Green Berets” and Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John.”
Muhr’s body was laid to rest at Union Cemetery, east of Coon Rapids. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and a stepson, Devin. Muhr’s parents, David Muhr and Shirley Land, also were present.
Muhr was the 75th person with Iowa ties to die in Iraq, Afghanistan or other combat zones since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Also killed in the explosion that claimed Muhr was Army Spc. Joshua Campbell, 22, of Bennett, Colo.
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His positive outlook on life stood out
The Associated Press
Shawn Muhr didn’t join the Army right after high school. But when the 26-year-old eventually enlisted, he wound up joining a group of friends and family who’d made the military their career.
Muhr, from the small western Iowa community of Coon Rapids, graduated from Coon Rapids-Bayard High School in 2003. He worked at a meatpacking plant before enlisting in 2005, according to The Des Moines Register.
In the Army, the natural athlete seemed to flourish.
“He had found his niche in the military,” his high school guidance counselor, Bill Orlano, told the newspaper. “He really blossomed there.”
Muhr and another soldier were killed Jan. 29 in Afghanistan’s Helmand province when a homemade bomb exploded.
Friends say they’ll remember Muhr for his sunny personality.
“He always had a smile on his face. It didn’t matter what was going on,” Jacob Schroeder, a high school friend who joined the Navy, told the paper. “He looked to the best side of things.”
Muhr, who was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., had already been deployed to Iraq.
He’s survived by his wife and stepson; mother and father — an Army veteran who’s vice commander of the Coon Rapids American Legion Post; and three sisters and his brother, Aaron, who served in the Iowa National Guard.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Leslie D. Williams
Died January 25, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
36, of Juneau, Alaska,; assigned to the 4th Maintenance Group, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; died Jan. 25, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, due to a non-combat-related incident.
Army Pfc. Amy R. Sinkler
Died January 20, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
23, of Chadbourn, N.C., assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died Jan. 20 in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked her unit with a rocket-propelled grenade.
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Joined Army to leave small NC hometown
The Associated Press
Amy Sinkler’s reason for joining the military was simple: She wanted to get out of the little town where she grew up and spent her life, and see the world.
“Basically, we were in our hometown forever,” her best friend, Brittany Rahman, told The Fayetteville Observer. “We grew up there, didn’t travel much, so we wanted to get away and see different stuff.”
Sinkler graduated from West Columbus High School in Chadbourn, N.C., in 2006. Rahman graduated a year earlier. Both wound up joining the military.
Sinkler, 23, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack Jan. 20 in Baghlan province, Afghanistan. She was assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska. She was a vehicle driver with a group at the post known as the “Rough Riders.”
Rahman said her friend had settled in well at the post, buying herself a car and marrying her high school boyfriend, Doug Sinkler.
The soldier was a strong-minded person and wasn’t one to hold back what she was feeling, Rahman said.
“That’s not Amy,” she said. “She’s going to tell you exactly how she’s feeling.”
Navy Operations Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Dominique D. Cruz
Died January 18, 2011 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
26, of Panama City, Fla., assigned to the destroyer Halsey, homeported in San Diego but currently deployed to the Fifth Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations; was found during search and rescue operations Jan. 19 in the Gulf of Oman after being reported missing Jan. 18.
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Destroyer Halsey sailor who went overboard ID’d
By Sam Fellman
Staff writer
The Navy has identified the destroyer Halsey sailor who went missing Tuesday in the Gulf of Oman.
The body of Operations Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Dominique Dionne Cruz, 26, was recovered by a helicopter on Wednesday, 18 hours after she failed to show up at watch, according to a 5th Fleet spokesman.
A helicopter spotted the body in the water and lowered a rescue swimmer, who recovered the body, Lt. Frederick Martin said. The body was found 75 miles east of Fujairah, a port city on the East Coast of the United Arab Emirates.
Helicopters from Halsey, supply oiler Rainier, Royal Navy frigate Cumberland and the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, as well as F/A-18 Hornets and P-3 Orion reconnaissance planes, carried out the search.
The Panama City, Fla. native enlisted June 6, 2006, and had served on Halsey for four years.
An investigation into her death is underway.
Army Sgt. Michael P. Bartley
Died January 15, 2011 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom
23, of Barnhill, Ill.; assigned to 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Jan. 15 in Mosul of wounds sustained when an Iraqi soldier from the unit with which he was training shot him with small-arms fire. Also killed was Spc. Martin J. Lamar.
Army Cpl. Jarrid L. King
Died January 12, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
20, of Erie, Pa.; assigned to the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Jan. 12 in Ghelan, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Omar Aceves and Spc. Benjamin G. Moore.
Army Sgt. Zainah C. Creamer
Died January 12, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
28, of Texarkana, Ark.; assigned to 212th Military Police Detachment, Headquarters Battalion, Fort Belvoir, Va.; died Jan. 12, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device.
Army Pfc. Zachary S. Salmon
Died January 12, 2011 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
21, of Harrison, Ohio; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Jan. 12 at Forward Operating Base Bostick, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered after insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire.
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‘The most mundane thing, he made fun’
By Carrie Whitaker
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It was not so long ago that 21-year-old Pfc. Zachary Salmon wore a huge, bright smile as he posed in a July photo with his beaming mother, Renee Lyons Cross, during Family Weekend at Fort Knox, Ky.
Nearer still are conversations with family and friends via Skype and Facebook about the raw beauty of the Afghanistan countryside — minus the guns and the Taliban — said his aunt, Christine Craig of Southeast Indiana.
But Salmon’s family has learned that the young man, who grew up in Harrison and most recently lived in Hebron before joining the Army, died Jan. 12 while on patrol with his platoon.
Salmon was the gunner in an armored vehicle, Craig said, when he was shot and killed by a sniper.
He had not yet completed a full year in the military, having joined in March 2010.
He was shipped out in September for his first deployment.
“The best word to describe him was vibrant,” his aunt said Jan. 13. “The most mundane thing, he made fun.”
She said Salmon joined the military because “he wanted to better himself and give his son something to be proud of.”
Salmon’s 3-year-old son, Noah, lives with his mother in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., where Salmon graduated high school, Craig said.
Craig said her nephew expressed his pleasure in the Army and was considering it as a career.
A member of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky., Salmon was a cavalry scout and very proud of it, Craig said.
He leaves behind his mother and stepfather; his father, Steven Salmon; a brother, Steven Salmon; two sisters, Kelsi Salmon and Katrin Maurer; and his son and extended family, Craig said.
His mother boarded a plane Jan. 13 to be at Dover Air Force Base, Del., when her son’s body returned to American soil.
“I know his mother wants everybody to know how proud she was of him – we all are,” Craig said.
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Left behind parents, girlfriend, 3-year-old son
The Associated Press
Zack Salmon loved joking around with his family and friends. After the young soldier from Pigeon Forge, Tenn., deployed to Afghanistan in September, he stayed connected to them through video chats on Skype.
“The best word to describe him was vibrant,” his aunt Christine Craig told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “The most mundane thing, he made fun.”
But Salmon also had serious side. One of the main reasons he enlisted was to better take care of his 3-year-old son, Noah.
“He wanted to better himself and give his son something to be proud of,” Craig said.
Salmon, 21, who joined the Army just six months before his deployment, died Jan. 12 in Kunar province after an attack on his unit. He was assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky.
Salmon was an Ohio native who moved to Tennessee as a teenager. He graduated from Pigeon Forge High School in 2008.
He also leaves behind his parents, Renee Lyons Cross and Steven Salmon; and his girlfriend, Keely McCarter.
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