Tuesday, May 15, 2012

R.I.P. - Sgt. Wade D. Wilson

DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            Sgt. Wade D. Wilson, 22, of Normangee, Texas, died May 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

            For additional background information on this Marine, news media representatives may contact the 1st Marine Division public affairs office at 760-725-8766.

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from nctimes.com:

A Camp Pendleton sergeant on his second combat deployment in Afghanistan has been killed, the Defense Department said Monday.

The department said Sgt. Wade D. Wilson "died while conducting combat operations in the Helmand province." No further details were provided.

Wilson, 22, was listed as a native of Normangee, Texas, whose family resides in Leona, Texas.
He was killed Friday, the Pentagon said.

Wilson was an anti-tank missileman assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.

CBS television affiliate KBTX.com in Bryan-College Station, Texas, quoted his high school football coach, Kyle Hardee, saying he remembers the fallen Marine's toughness and character.

"He was just one of those kids with heart, and he would be willing to do anything to get the job done," Hardee told the station.

A friend, Corey Boudiette, was quoted on the station's website saying he spoke with Wilson last Wednesday.

"He said that it was getting really hot over there and that he had been blown up by three IEDs in a week. But he said, 'It's OK, I'm having fun and I'm with people I care about,'" Boudiette said.

Wilson enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 2007 after graduating from Centerville High School where he played football, ran track and showed livestock at the county fair, according to base officials and an obituary from his hometown.

His decorations include the Purple Heart medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two bronze star devices, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with bronze star device, and the NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan.

Survivors include his parents, his stepfather, three brothers, a sister and three stepsisters.
Wilson's funeral services in Centerville are pending.

About 10,000 locally based Marines and sailors are serving in Afghanistan in this, the 11th year of the war.

They are being led by Camp Pendleton's Maj. Gen. Charles "Mark" Gurganus, who will brief local reporters later this week on his view of the war's progress.

Since the war began ---- after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 ---- 1,971 American troops have died in Afghanistan, including 107 this year.
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