Since last Memorial Day, these Georgians gave their lives in service to our nation:

  • Army PFC Monterrious T. Daniel of Griffin, assigned to the 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 43rd Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (Fort Carson, Colorado) (Operation Inherent Resolve) died June 12 in Camp Buehring, Kuwait, in a non-combat related incident. He was 19.
  • Army SPC Kyle E. Gilbert of Buford, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Fort Drum, New York) (Operation Freedom’s Sentinel) died Sept. 21, in Bagram, Afghanistan, in a non-combat related incident. He was 24.
  • Air Force Airman First Class Kcey E. Ruiz of McDonough, assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron (Dyess Air Force Base, Texas) (Operation Freedom’s Sentinel) died Oct. 2 with five other airmen in an aircraft crash at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan. She was 21.
  • Air Force SSG Chester J. McBride of Statesboro, assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405 (Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama) (Operation Freedom’s Sentinel) died Dec. 21 with five other airmen in a suicide bomb attack near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He was 30.

Now we salute these heroes, cherish their memory, and join their names to those other Georgians who paid the ultimate price serving our nation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well the thousands of their fellow Georgians killed in other conflicts throughout the history of our nation.

We honor them and all the Americans who swore to defend this nation at any cost, even their own lives, and upheld their oaths in full.

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For more information on the content of this news release, please contact the GDVS Public Information Division at 404-656-5933 or [email protected].