The Fallen Are Identified. Say Their Names
Two young men from America’s Armed Forces were killed this past week during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, our continuing war in Afghanistan perpetrated by terrorist attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001. They were killed in Kunduz province “as a result of wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations,” officials said in a statement.
Spc. Joseph P. Collette, 29, of Lancaster, Ohio, assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. Known as Joey, he and his wife eloped shortly before his deployment to Afghanistan and were planning “a proper ceremony” when he returned home this summer.
-When 9/11 occurred, “he knew right then that he wanted to join the Army,” according to his wife as told to Stars and Stripes. In 2001 Collette would have been 11 years old. He enlisted in 2010.
-“He wrote about 30 love letters and hid them in random places around the house for me to find, which I found most of them, so last night it was really comforting sitting down, reading through those, because it’s almost like he was preparing for this exact scenario,” his wife said.
-On Facebook, his wife posted “what she said was her husband’s favorite photo. In it, decked out in his bomb disposal suit in front of an American flag and flanked by a bomb disposal robot, Joey Collette smiles and points jocularly at the camera” (photo in Stars and Stripes article).
– He was based out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
-Purple Heart, Combat Action Badge and Senior Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge.
Sgt. 1st Class Will D. Lindsay, 33, of Cortez, Colorado, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He was married and had four daughters.
-Joined the Army in 2004.
-He deployed five times to Iraq, to Tajikistan in 2016 in support of a counter-narcotics mission, and then to Afghanistan.
-Completed One Station Unit Training and Basic Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga., before completing the Special Forces Qualification Course and getting assigned to 10th Group in July 2006, Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, U.S. Army Special Operations Command spokesman.
-Bronze Star Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Good Conduct Medal with three oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Chilean Airborne Wings and Senior Instructor Badge.
-He was based out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
Say their names. We owe them that. They were someone’s sons, husbands, dads, nephews, grandsons, neighbors, classmates, friends. They gave the ultimate sacrifice. Freedom is not free.
