Pentagon Announces Deaths of 3 U.S. Troops in Past 8 Days

Posted Dec 31, 2012 by Howard Altman

Updated Jan 5, 2013 at 03:22 PM

The Pentagon announced the deaths of three U.S. troops in the past eight days.

Pfc. Markie T. Sims, 20, of Citra, Fla., died Dec. 29 in Panjwal, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 38th Engineer Company, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, under control of the 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Sgt. Enrique Mondragon, 23, of The Colony, Texas, died Dec. 24, in Baraki Barak, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his unit was attacked by small arms fire while on dismounted patrol.  He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany.

Cdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., died Dec. 22 of a non-combat related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.  Price was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Va. This incident is currently under investigation.
There have now been 2,158 U.S. troop deaths in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the nation’s longest war.