Army SPC From California First Casualty Since 10th Anniversary of Operation Enduring Freedom

Posted Oct 9, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Oct 16, 2011 at 07:35 PM

EDITOR’S NOTE: I mistakenly forgot to put the right coding on this, so it never posted. My apologies to those who died and their families.

A 24-year-old Army specialist from California became the first casualty since the 10-year anniversary of Operation Enduring Freedom was reached Friday.

Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr., 24, of Salinas, Calif., died Oct. 8 in Logar Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.  He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

There were two other casualties in Afghanistan this week.

Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt, 24, of San Antonio, Texas, died Oct. 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

This incident is under investigation.

Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, of New York, died Oct. 3 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

There have now been 1,781 casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom, America’s longest war.