Donald Allen Wesley Burkett born 27 Jan 1984 at Brownwood, Brown County, Texas.

He graduated from Zephyr, Texas High School and attended Ranger Junior College. Donald entered the Army in April 2006 as an armor crewman. He was a member of the VFW Killeen Chapter. He was known for his goofy smile and his positive attitude and had recently purchased a home for his family.     

Spc. Donald A. Burkett U.S. Army 2nd Squadron 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Donald died 10 Mar 2008 in Balad Ruz, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device at age 24. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, and Army Service Ribbon. During his memorial service his family was presented with his additional medals including medals for good conduct and meritorious service, the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Burial at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery Killeen, Bell County, Texas, USA Plot Sec 1 Row K Site 397. .

Mario Alberto Castillo was born on 25 Jan 1985 at Brownwood, Brown County, Texas to Maria Elida Torres and Guadalupe V. Castillo.

He graduated from Brownwood High School in May 2003 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps on 2 June 2003 and reported to 2d Combat Engineer Battalion for duty as a Combat Engineer in December 2003. Lance Corporal Castillo was a skilled and proven combat engineer.. He married Angela Y. Portillo, formerly of Early, on 5 Sept 2003 in Brown County, Texas. He had been trained as a Combat Engineer and assigned to the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.     

Lance Corporal Mario A. Castillo U.S. Marine Corps Combat Engineer with 2nd Platoon, Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina the home of “Expeditionary Forces in Readiness.” During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lance Corporal Castillo deployed to the theater of operations in March 2005 and supported numerous combat operations in support of the 2d Marine Division while attached to First Battalion, Sixth Marines. On 10 June 2005, Lance Corporal Castillo and his squad were conducting a dismounted patrol in the City of Saqlawiyah, just north of Fallajuah in the Al Anbar Province. During this mission, an improvised explosive device struck the vehicle he was manning, mortally wounding him and another Marine in his platoon. His body was recovered and repatriated to America and shipped to Brownwood, Texas where he was buried with full military honors in the Eastlawn Memorial Park, Field of Honor in Early, Brown County, Texas. .

Seth Allen Hartin born 16 Sep 1984 at Brownwood, Brown County, Texas to Gwen Elaine Hughes and Gene Allen Hartin.

He graduated from Bangs High School where he learned music as a member of the band, Bangs, Brown County, Texas was his home. Seth also graduated from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas with a B.A. in Business. Seth was well loved by the many friends he made in his life. He was known as a fun loving adventurous young man who also showed great compassion for others. He is credited by some as being instrumental in helping them through hard times in their lives. He joined the Navy on 23 Nov 2009. He was scheduled for deployment to Hawaii in September 2010 where he was to serve on the U.S.S. Destroyer Russel.    

Sonar Tech. (Surface) Seaman Petty Officer Third Class Seth A. Hartin U.S. Navy student at Naval Base Point Loma, California. Seth died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident in San Diego, California on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 at the age of twenty five. The Navy on Wednesday identified the two sailors killed Tuesday when the speeding Corvette they were in careened off the curving transition from southbound Interstate 5 to eastbound state Route 54 and fell about 100 feet to northbound Interstate 5, landing on its roof. The victims were Brian Jeffrey Davis, 20, of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Seth Allen Hartin, 25, of Bangs, Texas, said Brian O’Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest. California Highway Patrol Officer Art Athans said Wednesday that Davis was the driver of the 1998 Corvette, which went over the side of the transition about 4:20 p.m. Athans said witnesses estimated that the car had been traveling about 100 mph. He said there was no initial indication that drugs or alcohol played a factor in the crash. Athans said some witnesses who stopped at the scene flipped the car onto its wheels, but were unable to reach the men because the car’s roof was completely smashed in. Davis died at the scene, and Hartin was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Funeral services for Seth Hartin were Friday, 3 September 2010 in the Heartland Funeral Home Chapel, Early, Brown County, Texas, interment will follow in the Mukewater Cemetery, Brown County, Texas. .

Michael Craig Ledsome born 4 Dec 1981 at Brownwood, Brown County, Texas to Tammy Leigh Johnson and Michael Dewayne Ledsome.

He graduated from Brownwood High School in 2000 and moved to Austin, Texas where he ran a golf pro shop at the Balcones Country Club. He was an athletic teenager who loved to golf during his childhood in Brownwood. He married Megan A Smith in Austin, Travis County, Texas on 11 Jul 2004, the couple has a two-year-old son. His passions were the Texas Longhorns and golf. He joined the Marines on 10 Jan 2005 and was trained as a radio operator.     

Corporal Michael C. Ledsome U.S. Marine Corps Field Radio Operator Hq & Supply Company 3rd Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment 2nd Marine Division II Marine Expeditionary Force Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, he injured his back in August 2006 when a road side bomb exploded near his convoy and he was in a hospital until recently. He was killed in action at Habbaniyah, Iraq on 25 Nov 2006 in combat with a hostile enemy. His body was recovered and repatriated to America and was shipped to Austin, Texas. His funeral service with full military honors was on Tuesday, 5 Dec 2006 at 10:00 a.m. in the Colonial Chapel, Austin, Texas with interment in Cook Walden Forest Oaks Memorial Park, Austin, Travis County, Texas. .

Michael Chance Murphrey born on 19 May 1984 at Dallas, Dallas County, Texas to Evelyn Littlejohn and Elvie Dale Murphrey.

He attended Clyde Elementary in Clyde, Callahan County, Texas. On his 17th birthday his family took him skydiving and after that he decided he wanted to be an army paratrooper. Michael was a 2003 graduate of Snyder High School in Snyder, Texas. While in high school, he was an all-district defensive end on the football team and competed in hurdles for the track team. He also served as the escort for the boys track team queen and helped the football team earn a playoff berth his senior year. His football coach remembers an outstanding young man who worked hard and looked out for others. Michael decided he wanted to join the Army after the 911 terrorist attacks and he enlisted 1 Oct 2003. He married Ashley Martin on 22 April 2005 in Metter, Georgia. While home to see his wife, Ashley, and their two children, he was proud to show them his new skill of playing the acoustic guitar. Michael loved hunting, fishing and motorcycles – he was basically an outdoor kind of guy. He was also laid-back, easy going and loved his wife, two children, and the men he commanded. During his tours, he earned six medals of valor.     

Staff Sergeant Michael C. Murphrey U.S. Army Company C, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. During Operation Enduring Freedom he was deployed to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Sharana, a large forward operating base located in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. SSgt Murphrey was on his third tour of duty in a war zone. He was killed in action at Paktika province, Afghanistan on 6 Sep 2009 while on a security patrol when he stepped on a pressurized plate that set off an improvised explosive device planted by the Taliban. His body was recovered and repatriated to America and shipped to Clyde, Texas. Funeral Services with full military honors are with Bailey-Howard Funeral Home in Clyde, Texas on Tuesday, 15 September 2009 at 1:00 p.m. Interment in the Clyde Cemetery, Clyde, Callahan County, Texas. .

Tevan Lee Nguyen born on 20 Jun 1989 at Travis County, Texas to Esmeralda Amy Salazar and Tam Van Nguyen.

Tevan ran track and was a member of the Hutto, Williamson County, Texas football team that reached the state championship in 2005, and at age 16 signed up for the Marine Corps. His room at his parents' house is filled with sports medals. He graduated Hutto High School class of 2007, and enlisted in the Marines on June 11, 2007. He attended Boot Camp in San Diego, California, then trained as a combat rifleman qualifying as Rifle Expert. Tevan and his girl friend, Monique Stearns, have an infant son, Tevan Lee Nguyen Jr. The couple met when they were both students at Hutto High School, Stearns said. "You could never be mad at him," she said. "He always made you smile." Afghanistan was his first combat deployment.    

Corporal Tevan L. Nguyen U.S. Marine Corps 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. During Operation Enduring Freedom, he was killed in action 28 Dec 2010 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. His body was recovered and repatriated to America and shipped to Brownwood, Brown County, Texas where his grandfather Salazar resided. Funeral Services with full military honors will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday 6 January 2010 at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Father Serafin Avenido officiating, interment to follow in Indian Creek Cemetery, where his grandmother Salazar is buried, under the direction of Davis Morris Funeral Home. A Rosary will be held at 7:00 pm Wednesday evening at the funeral home. .

Jonathan Andrew Stehle born on 3 Jun 1978 at Midland, Midland County, Texas to Vivian Lanell Bourke and Herbert Murray Stehle.

He was raised in Brady, McCulloch County, Texas and attended and graduated in 1996 from Brady High School where he played football. He married Jennifer D. Brand in Tom Green County, Texas on 3 Jan 1998. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 6 Jul 2000 and received basic combat training at Fort Knox, Kentucky including drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history and traditions. He was deployed to Wiesbaden, Stadtkreis Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany for training in the Abrams M1A1 tank with the 1st Armored Division.     

Specialist Jonathan A. Stehle U.S. Army 1st Armored Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team Grafenwöhr Training Area in southeastern Germany, about 20 miles from the Czech border. An Abrams M1A1 tank rumbles through the training area an hour away from Army Spc Stehle's base in Germany. On 8 Nov 2002, all is normal, routine. Without warning, the 68-ton machine he is driving plunges nose first into a muddy sinkhole. The 120mm main gun on the tank, the cannon, sticks into the ground like a javelin. The cold, quicksand-like mud and the position of the gun traps the driver, Spc. Jonathan Stehle. Water from an underground stream seeps into Stehle's compartment, like cold water from a tap slowly filling a stopped-up sink. About 300 feet away, comrades are in a second tank. They scramble to Stehle's tank. As an army of rescuers tries in vain to pull the behemoth from the hole. In spite of all the efforts, Spc Stehle drowns inside the tank in the driver's seat. His body was recovered and repatriated to America and shipped to Brady, McCulloch County, Texas. Funeral Services under the direction of Heritage Funeral Homes at the New Song Christian Fellowship on Sunday, 17 Nov 2002 at 3 p.m. with full military honors following with interment in Resthaven Cemetery, Brady, McCulloch County, Texas. .