As of today, 1,935 US military personnel have been killed in or near Afghanistan, while 71 have been killed since January 1, 2012. Lance Corporal Ramon T. Kaipat, 22, became the 1,934th casualty on Wednesday, April 11th.
~ Photo Credit llbear
Ramon Kaipat was born in Saipan, the largest of the Marianna Islands, and, according to guampdn.com,the was the 42nd soldier from Micronesia killed while defending the United States since 9/11. Kaipat was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was serving his second deployment to Afghanistan. He was killed in Helmand Province.
Kaipat's family moved from Saipan to Tacoma, WA in 2004, and he graduated high school there in 2007. His body was expected to arrive in Maryland on Saturday, where his family, including parents Pete and Sinforosa, sister Pearlitta and brother Pedro, waited to accompany him to Tacoma. Other relatives in grieved his loss in locations as far-flung as Virginia, Hawaii, Saipan and Washington State.
The family learned of the death early Wednesday morning when Marines in uniform arrived at their doorstep before the sun rose. Family said the rosary on Friday for Kaipat and his aunt, who had also just passed away. His hobbies included sketching, playing football, and music.
The Governor of Guam extended his condolences to the entire family.
Guampdn posted the following breakdown of Micronesian troop fatalities in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars:
REGIONAL FATALITIES
Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau have collectively lost 42 sons and daughters in military conflicts overseas. Here's the breakdown of fatalities since 2003:
•Guam: 21
•Northern Marianas: 9
•Palau: 5
•Federated States of Micronesia: 7
REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN
2003
•Army Spc. Christopher Jude Rivera Wesley, 26, was killed when the Stryker infantry carrier he was in rolled into a canal on Dec. 8, 2003, in Iraq.
2004
•Army 1st Lt. Michael Aguon Vega, 42, a Guam native, died March 20, 2004, after he sustained injuries from a roadside blast in Iraq.
•Army Sgt. Yihjyh "Eddie" Lang Chen, 31, of Saipan was killed in Iraq, April 4, 2004, when his unit was attacked.
•Marine Cpl. JayGee Meluat, 24, a native of Palau, was killed by enemy fire in Al-Anbar province, Iraq, Sept. 13, 2004.
•Army Sgt. Skipper Soram, 23, from Kolonia, in the FSM state of Pohnpei, died after an explosion occurred near his security post in Iraq on Sept. 22, 2004.
•Ferdinand Ibabao, an employee of DynCorp security company, was killed in an explosion in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct. 14, 2004. Ibabao had been a Guam police officer. He was 36.
•Army Spc. Jonathan Pangelinan Santos, a former Santa Rita resident, was killed in Karabilah, Iraq, on Oct. 15, 2004, when his vehicle hit a land mine. He was 22.
2005
•Army Staff Sgt. Steven Bayow, 42, a Yap native, was one of two soldiers killed Feb. 2, 2005, in Bayji, Iraq, when a bomb hit their vehicle.
•Army Spc. Derence Jack, 31, of Saipan was killed Oct. 30, 2005, in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq.
•Army Sgt. Wilgene Lieto, 28, of Saipan was killed Oct. 30, 2005, in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq.
•Army Spc. Richard DeGracia Naputi Jr., 24, of Talofofo was killed Dec. 21, 2005, in Iraq, when a homemade bomb detonated during combat operations.
2006
•Army Pfc. Kasper Allen Camacho Dudkiewicz, 23, of Chalan Pago was killed Jan. 15, 2006, in Mosul, Iraq, when the Humvee in which he was the gunner was involved in a vehicle collision.
•Army Pfc. Henry Paul, 24, of Kolonia, in the FSM state of Pohnpei, and another soldier died Sept. 26, 2006, in Baghdad of injuries sustained when their M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled over.
•Army Sgt. Jesse Castro, 22, a Guam native, was one of five soldiers killed Dec. 6, 2006, when a roadside explosion destroyed their Humvee in Kirkuk Province in Iraq.
2007
•Marine Cpl. Adam Quitugua Emul, 20, from Tanapag, Saipan, was killed in action while conducting combat operations in Iraq's Al-Anbar province on Jan. 29, 2007.
•Army Cpl. Lee Roy Apatang Camacho, 27, from Saipan died of wounds he sustained from an explosion Feb. 9, 2007, in Baqoubah, Iraq.
•Guam Army National Guard Sgt. Gregory D. Fejeran was killed in Ethiopia on March 6, 2007, when the vehicle he was in rolled over. He was 28.
•Guam Army National Guard Sgt. Christopher Fernandez was killed in Ethiopia on March 6, 2007, when the vehicle he was in rolled over. He was 28.
•Army Spc. John D. Flores, 21, of Barrigada, was one of two soldiers killed May 3, 2007, when their unit came under attack by enemy fire in Baghdad.
•Army Pfc. Victor Michael Fontanilla, 23, was killed in a bomb blast in Iraq on May 17, 2007.
•Army Sgt. Iosiwo Uruo died on May 24, 2007, in Buhriz, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire. He was 27.
•Army Cpl. Meresebang Ngiraked, 21, of Koror, Palau, died June 10, 2007, from injuries he sustained from a vehicle-based improvised explosive device in Karbala, Iraq.
•Army Pfc. Jose Charfauros Jr., 33, of Rota was one of 14 soldiers killed in a single day in Iraq.
•Army Maj. Henry Ofeciar died on Aug. 27, 2007, when enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades attacked his unit in Afghanistan. He was 37.
•Navy Master-at-Arms Anamarie San Nicolas Camacho, 20, of Tinian and Guam, was killed in Bahrain on Oct. 25, 2007.
2008
•Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Gamboa of the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, from Merizo died March 25 in Iraq from injuries sustained when he came under indirect fire. He was 34.
•U.S. Army Spc. Philton Ueki was killed in Iraq on April 23. He was buried in California.
•Christopher Albert Quitugua died June 19 in Iraq after the vehicle he was riding in flipped after a tire blowout. He was 28.
•Guam Army National Guard Sgt. Brian S. Leon Guerrero was killed July 10 in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was in hit an improvised explosive device. He was 34.
•Guam Army National Guard Spc. Samson A. Mora was killed July 10 in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was in hit an improvised explosive device. He was 28.
•Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Anthony M. "Tony" Carbullido died Aug. 8 from injuries he suffered when his convoy vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
2009
•Hawaii Army National Guard Spc. Cwislyn K. Walter, 19, died as a result of injuries sustained in a single-vehicle accident Feb. 19 in Kuwait.
•Army Sgt. Jasper Obakrairur, 26, of Palau, was killed by a roadside bomb on June 1 in Nerkh, Afghanistan.
•Army 1st Sgt. Jose San Nicolas Crisostomo, formerly of Inarajan, died on Aug. 18, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
•Army Sgt. Youvert Loney, 28, of Pohnpei, Micronesia; died Sept. 5 in Abad, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle using small arms and recoilless rifle fire.
2010
•Army Spc. Eric M. Finniginam, 26, of Yap, died May 1 of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit in Afghanistan.
•Army Sgt. Joshua Akoni Sablan Lukeala, 23, formerly of Yigo, died while combat in Afghanistan.
•Marine Cpl. Dave Michael Santos, 21, of Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands/Rota, was killed in Afghanistan.
•Army Pfc. Jaysine "Jen" Petree, 19, was killed July 16 by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
2011
•Army Sgt. Sonny J. Moses, 22, of Koror, Palau, died April 18 in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Moses died of wounds suffered during a grenade attack on April 16 at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
•Spc. Calvin Evangelista Pereda, 21, of Guam, was killed in Afghanistan Nov. 12.
2012