Wichita Falls, TX Aug. 28,2010. On a warm clear summer day several dozen family members gathered at the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport to welcome home their loved one, SPC Alexis V. Maldonado.

Also gathered were 50-75 North Texas Patriot Guard Riders who stood by while the family watched the dignified transfer on the tarmac, and later escorted the procession through town on the way to the Owens & Brumley Funeral Home.

Originally, the family had requested no media, but once I explained how my videos are watched by family members who are unable to attend and the troops who served with him.  The family invited me out on the tarmac with them and allowed me to document this solemn ceremony.

This was especially poignant for me as I am preparing for the Patriot Guard Riders National Gathering of the Guard 2010 scheduled for Sept. 9-12 in Killeen/Ft. Hood, where Spc Maldonado was based. His unit was one of the units attacked during readiness processing at Fort Hood last November, and engineers Alexis had trained with were killed or wounded before the unit ever left American soil.

Alexis Maldonado enlisted in the Army a year after he became a father. His son, Isaiah, just turned two.

Alexis became a combat engineer, one of the soldiers who travel dangerous roads, seeking to protect the lives of others while risking their own. Once deployed to Afghanistan, his service was remarkable.  Alexis’s unit was stationed at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, and they cleared roads of IEDs to protect soldiers and civilians alike.  Alexis completed more than one hundred missions of this extremely dangerous duty, usually driving or manning the machine gun position which serves as the eyes of the vehicle.

After his service in the Army, Alexis Maldonado hoped to study auto mechanics at Universal Technical Institute, near home in Dallas, Texas.  He wanted to be a mechanic.  He loved music, and was a dedicated weight-lifter.

Alexis died of wounds he suffered when his convoy was ambushed in Zhari Province, Afghanistan.

Alexis is mourned, remembered, and loved by many, including his parents and step-parents, Jesse, Alicia, Linda, and Keith, his fiancée, Baronica, his son, Isaiah, his brothers, Brad and Sergio, and his sister, Aleksi.

SPC Alexis Vicente Maldonado, 20, of Wichita Falls, TX

SPC Alexis Vicente Maldonado, 20, of Wichita Falls, died Saturday, August 21, 2010 while serving his country in Afghanistan and is expected to return to the North Texas region later this week. Once arrangements have been announced we will update this article.

On August 21, 2010 SPC Maldonado’s life was tragically ended while on a route clearance patrol on highway one, in Southern Afghanistan. While moving east along highway one an enemy ambush struck the rear vehicle where SPC Maldonado was a gunner.

SPC Alexis Maldonado was born on July 16, 1990 in Wichita Falls, Texas to Jesse and Alicia Maldonado. After graduating high school SPC Maldonado became the proud father of a baby boy named Isaiah on August 6, 2008.

While continuing to be a dedicated father SPC Maldonado enlisted in the United States Army on October 3, 2009. SPC Maldonado went to the 35th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he completed OSUT training for basic training and AIT. At the completion of his training he was awarded the MOS of 21B, Combat Engineer, and assigned to Fort Hood, Texas where he would eventually be assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 510th Clearance Company, and finally 3rd platoon. While assigned to 3rd Platoon SPC Maldonado went on to complete many individual, squad, and platoon level trainings to include Combat Lifesaver Class and the R2C2 operator classes. In September of 2009 SPC Maldonado deployed with the rest of the 20th Engineer Battalion to the National Training Center in California to complete the unit’s readiness training, prior to block leave and the Battalion’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. SPC Maldonado and his platoon always performed above the standard receiving many accommodations from the officials at the training center.

Upon returning to Fort Hood SPC Maldonado had yet another hurdle to overcome before his company’s deployment. The entire 510th Clearance Company was hit with tragedy when their friends, peers, and battle buddies were wounded on November 5th at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Site.

On January 23, 2010 SPC Maldonado deployed with the 20th Engineer Battalion, 510th Clearance Company, 3rd Platoon. After spending two months at Kandahar Airfield completing training and helping to build his platoon vehicle force, the 510th moved to Forward Operating Base Ramrod. While stationed at FOB Ramrod SPC Maldonado completed over 100 route clearance missions with his platoon. SPC Maldonado would serve as a primary .50 cal machine gunner and a RG31-MK2 driver; continually displaying the Army Values in everything he did.

SPC Maldonado had aspirations of eventually ETS’ing from the Army and using the skills and experience he gained to further his education at UTI in Dallas, Texas, in order to study to become a Mechanic. SPC Maldonado could always be found in his down time either in his room, head nodding back and forth to his music, or in the gym grinding away with any weight he could get his hands on.

Whether it was trying to build his fitness in the gym or his ability to bring out not only the best in himself, but those around him, SPC Maldonado was an exemplary Soldier and a person in everything he did. He was a loving and dedicated father, who enjoyed spending all his time with his son. He will never be forgotten and greatly missed by all that knew him.

SPC Maldonado’s awards and decorations include the following: Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart; Good Conduct Metal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; NATO Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

Alexis enjoyed listening to music, wrestling and playing video games.
He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, David and Maria Maldonado.

Survivors include his parents, Jesse Maldonado and wife, Linda of Wichita Falls and Alicia Maldonado and husband, Keith Hastings of Wichita Falls; grandparents, Robert “Bob” and Irene Butterfield of Wichita Falls; Frank and Rosie Rodriguez of Wichita Falls; Ruben and Ruth Castillo of Princeton, Illinois; David Hernandez Everette; great-grandmother, Jesusa Garcia Aguirre; fiancé, Baronica Chapa; son, Isaiah Malachi Maldonado; brother, Brad Newlin and wife, Tia of Wichita Falls; brother, Sergio Maldonado and wife, Mykeli; sister, Aleksi Marie Maldonado of Wichita Falls; uncles, Robert Butterfield and wife, Hope, David Everette, Jr. and wife, Rita and Roy Castillo, all of Wichita Falls; aunts, Michelle Castaneda and Cristina Rodriguez, both of Wichita Falls; also many nieces, nephews and cousins.

“All gave some, some gave all”

Resource: Owens & Brumley Funeral Home & Cremation Center · Wichita Falls, TX 940-322-3181

Specialist 2nd Class Jarod Newlove

Logar provincial police chief Ghulam Mustafa told Reuters that his captors had probably dumped the body after the sailor died from wounds received in the incident that led to his capture.

“The body was spotted by villagers,” he said.

A U.S. defense official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, earlier also reported the recovery and it comes two days after officials announced they had the remains of the first sailor.

The two U.S. Navy service members went missing on Friday after failing to return in a vehicle they had taken from their compound in Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Saturday.

The alliance had no immediate comment on the latest report.

On Sunday, the Taliban said they were holding prisoner one of the two sailors, who had strayed into territory controlled by the insurgents just south of the capital, and that the other had been killed.

ISAF scrambled helicopters and planes to look for the pair after they went missing, but officials have declined to give anything but scant details since, prompting speculation that the two had been acting outside the chain of command.

Leaflets depicting photos of the men were distributed in Logar province where the two went missing, less than 100 km (60 miles) south of Kabul and announcements on local radio stations offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to a rescue.

On Sunday, a spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location that the group’s leadership would decide later on the fate of the second sailor.

Resource: AP

Honors rendered for Spc Jerod H Osborne

July  16, 2010 (Dallas, TX) Spc. Jerod Heath Osborne, 20, of Royse City, TX, was laid to rest in Rockwall, TX.  After church services concluded the procession made its way to Rest Heaven Cemetery led by local and state police.  Members of the Patriot Guard Riders were on hand to ensure the services were not disrupted.

The interment ceremonies began with a bagpiper leading the hearse to the gravesite.  Once, the majority of the participants gathered around the gravesite, members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, from Fort Bragg, N.C. performed the military final interment ceremonies.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, participants offered the family condolences and made their way out of Texas’ scorching summer sun.

Afterward the family stayed behind to witness the casket lowered into the grave. We were blessed to share the moment with the eldest brother SSGT Wau-tash Grillett, who was also serving in Afghanistan. He also was tasked with escorting the remains of his younger brother home.  He shared his thoughts about his brother after the funeral.

On behalf of USFallen.org and its viewers, we wish to extend our sincere gratitude to the Grillett and Osborne families, for allowing us to share in the loss of Our American Hero. We are forever indebted to your dearest Jerod, and the sacrifice he made on our behalf. We pray you find comfort in knowing he will rest in peace, for eternity, among America’s finest who answered her call to duty and did so with valor.

July 15, 2010 (Dallas, TX) Spc Jerod Heath Osborne, 20, of Royse City, TX, remains arrived in Greenville, TX on a charter plane Wednesday July 14, 2010 at 1300 hours (1:00 PM). The temperature was a scorching 98 degrees as family and friends waited for his arrival.

Upon touchdown his plane was welcomed by the Greenville Fire Department and an honorary water-bridge. Once the plane parked, members of the 1^st Cavalry, Ft. Hood, TX, conducted a dignified transfer on the tarmac.  The family was escorted to the hearse to welcome their loved one home.

The procession led by various Fire-trucks from surrounding communities.  Also, present were 200 Patriot Guard Riders to help escort the procession as it made way to the funeral home.

Osborne was assigned to 4th Squadron, 73rd Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.  He was killed in action July 5 in Yakuta, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked their unit using an IED.

According to his step-father, “he jumped on an IED to save the lives of others. He was a really good kid.  He never got into trouble or into drugs,” he said. “He is a hero and will be sorely missed,” he said as he choked up with emotion.

Osborne is scheduled for final interment with full military honors on Friday.