I Got The News Today (IGTNT), which is one of the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos, provides members of this community a venue to pay their respects to those who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation Inherent Resolve and Operation Resolute Support. The IGTNT title is a reminder that far too often the family of an active duty service member receives the terrible news that their beloved has died.
Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers
Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. They died April 27 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, as a result of small arms fire while engaged in dismounted operations. Both soldiers were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia. The incident is under investigation. ~ DoD News Release
Fighting alongside their Afghan partners, Josh and Cameron proved themselves willing to go into danger and impose a brutal cost on enemies in their path. They carried out their operation against ISIS-K in Afghanistan before making the ultimate sacrifice to defend our nation and our freedoms. Our nation owes them an irredeemable debt, and we give our deepest condolences to their families. ~ Secretary of Defense James Mattis
Joshua “Josh” Rogers, was a 2013 graduate of Normal Community High School where he participated on the school’s Track and Football teams. Josh enlisted in the Army immediately following graduation with his sights set on becoming an Army Ranger.
He wanted to be at the highest level he could accomplish. As a young kid, like any other kid, he was into sports — soccer to baseball to football. But he also liked to read, particularly history books. ~ Joe Rodgers, uncle
Josh was a tremendous kid. When I hear his name, what comes to mind is how hard he worked no matter what it was, whether it was football or school. He did things the right way. ~ Wes Temples, NCHS Football Coach
It's a sad day for our school and our community. Joshua had a work ethic that was second to none. He led by example in both football and track. Josh was just exceptional. Again, he didn't just want to be a soldier, he wanted to be in the special forces. He wanted to do special things and I think even at a young age he did accomplish his goals. He never spoke about anything else. He wanted to be an Army Ranger. It was something that he really talked about the spring of his senior year. Even some of the football coaches helped him get some of the (physical) training done because he was really excited about the test. ~ Bryan Thomas, NCHS Track Coach and Assistant Football Coach
Sgt Rodgers completed the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program 1 at Fort Benning, GA following his Basic Airborne Course. Rodgers was assigned to Company C, 3rd BGattalion, 75th Regiment where we was serving as Ranger Team Leader at the time of his death. This was his third deployment to Afghanistan.
Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers’ awards and decorations include, the Ranger Tab, the Parachutist Badge, the Marksmanship Qualification Bade Expert-Rifle, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Nato Medal.
Sgt Joshua P. Rodgers is survived by his mother, Vonda; his father, Kevin; and sisters Emily and Hannah. Funeral services have not yet been announced.
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Cameron Thomas was born in Colorado Springs and moved to Ohio in the 8th grade. He is one of 12 biological and adopted children in a devout Mormon family. He was a 2012 graduate of Kettering Fairmont High School where he was a member of the swim team. He enlisted in the Army immediately following graduation.
Cameron’s younger sister, Arran Thomas-Dunlavey said: As a person, he just always had this incredible determination about him, nothing was going to stop him from doing what he wanted to do. The pride I felt, and still feel, when I say ‘My brother is an Army Ranger’, there’s no words to describe it. I don’t think I’ll ever come across another person in my lifetime with as much passion and joy for their life and what they’re doing with it as my brother. “Cameron, not a day will go by that you won’t cross my mind.”
Thomas’ father, Andre Thomas, who is an Air Force veteran, spoke about his son and his desire to become an Army Ranger: [It] was all he lived and breathed. Whatever he set his mind to, he did. As a family, we’re all united. We know this is what he wanted and was his passion. We had talks about the possibility of losing his life and he always said that he’d rather die defending his country and protecting his family than dying in a car accident or cancer. As far as us, we have no animosity or anything against anyone. If it happened, it happened and war is awful. I hate it and I wish we didn’t have it.
Matthew D. Summers, who served with Thomas as an Army Ranger, both stateside and on deployments to Afghanistan said Thomas was an “invincible” and a “hard-charging” person. I just want people to understand how Cameron was a positive person and he was always uplifting. No matter the hardships that we faced, the sleepless nights, the deployments all around the world, isolation at times, losing a friend — no matter what was going, no matter the circumstances — Cameron brought people up. I just want people to know that Cameron’s life was not wasted.
I talked to him Monday and Tuesday,I talked to him pretty much every day. It’s just an unreal feeling. It’s such a devastating loss. Cameron was more than a friend to me. He was more than a friend to a lot of people. He was family. He was my brother.
After completing infantry and basic airborne training, Thomas was assigned to the Army's Ranger program, where he served as an automatic rifleman, grenadier and an anti-armor specialist.
This was Sgt Thomas’ third deployment to Afghanistan.
Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas’ awards and decorations include the Ranger Tab, the Expert Infantryman's Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas is survived by his parents and eleven brothers and sisters who now live in Virginia. No funeral arrangements have been announced.
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About The IGTNT Series
"I Got the News Today" is a diary series intended to honor, respect, and remind us of the sacrifice of our US troops. Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno in 2004 and now is maintained by Sandy on Signal, i dunno, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, SisTwo, SpamNunn, TrueBlueMajority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, maggiejean, Ekaterin, TheFatLadySings, Joy of Fishes, and me, JaxDem. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died and show our community’s respect for them. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
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Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service member(s) mentioned here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.