The second USS La Salle (LPD-3/AGF-3) was built as a Raleigh-class amphibious transport dock and entered service with the United States Navy in 1964. La Salle was named for the city in Illinois that was in turn named after René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle saw service in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and throughout international waters in the Middle East and Europe. The vessel served as a command ship for Joint Task Force Middle East and as flagship for the Sixth Fleet. In 2005 the ship was decommissioned and sunk as a target ship off the Atlantic coast of the United States in 2007.
Janis Leigh Karpinski is a retired career officer in the United States Army Reserve. She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at the time of the scandal related to torture and prisoner abuse. She commanded three prisons in Iraq and the forces that ran them. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and secondary education from Kean College, a Master of Arts degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Master of Arts in strategic studies from the United States Army War College.
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star 3⁄16 inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award the star is authorized for and the manner in which the device is used for the award. "Battle star" is also the term used to refer to decorations issued by the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War to individual ships, recognizing a vessel's participation in a particular battle or operation.
The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after July 1, 1958, participated in U.S. military operations, U.S. operations in direct support of the United Nations, or U.S. operations of assistance for friendly foreign nations.
The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. The medal was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry and was awarded during the Iraq War, from 19 March 2003 to 31 December 2011.
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) is a United States Armed Forces award created by George W. Bush on 12 March 2003, through Executive Order 13289. The medal recognizes those military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror from 11 September 2001 to a date to be determined. Prior to 30 April 2005, the medal was awarded for service within Iraq and Afghanistan, but has been replaced with the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal and serves primarily as recognition for personnel who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. In a similar fashion the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal is issued for service in the fight against ISIS, with eligibility retroactive to 15 June 2014.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center (EAMC) is a 93-bed medical treatment facility located on Fort Eisenhower, GA, located near Augusta, Georgia that previously served as the headquarters of the Army's Southeast Regional Medical Command (SERMC). SERMC oversaw the Army's hospitals and clinics within the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. SERMC was renamed Southern Regional Medical Command (SRMC) and was relocated to San Antonio in 2009.
The 1st Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army that draws its lineage from a line of post American Revolutionary War units and is credited with thirty-nine campaign streamers. The 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry is assigned as support to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and to furnish the enlisted garrison for the academy and the Stewart Army Subpost. 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment is an infantry component serving with the 2nd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Washington.
Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez was a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army serving in Iraq. She was the first female graduate of West Point to die in Iraq.
The Ground Truth is a 2006 documentary film about veterans of the Iraq War. It was directed and produced by Patricia Foulkrod.
William Joseph Gainey is a retired United States Army soldier who served as the first senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Stephen M. Twitty is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. Twitty assumed command of First United States Army on July 15, 2016, relinquishing command to become deputy commander of United States European Command on 9 August 2018. Previously, he was commanding general of Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division. Twitty was awarded the Silver Star during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Noted for his relationship with journalist David Bloom, who was embedded with his battalion during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Twitty has served in five combat deployments, including tours in the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. He has commanded at the company, battalion, and brigade level during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twitty is a graduate of South Carolina State University and a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He was inducted into the South Carolina State University ROTC Hall of Fame in 2009, and selected as one of the university's Distinguished Alumni in 2004.
The 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a modular infantry brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard. One of the oldest units in U.S. Army history, the lineage of the 48th Infantry Brigade can be traced back to 1825. It is one of few units in the US military that also saw service as a unit of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Today, the 48th IBCT is part of the U.S. Army's "Associated Units" program where it is aligned under the 3rd Infantry Division, a combined arms combat maneuver unit of the Regular Army.
Frank A. Cipolla is an American retired military officer who served as a brigadier general in the United States Army.
Murray A. Hansen is a brigadier general in the National Guard of the United States.
Jaimie E Leonard was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and a part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York. She was 39 years old when she died in Sharana, Afghanistan, as a result of a small arms-related injury. Previous deployments include Bosnia (1999), Iraq (2005), and Afghanistan in 2011 where she served as part of Regional Command (South) HQ. On a subsequent deployment to Afghanistan she acquired fatal injuries in 2013 from an insider attack in Paktika province. In her career as a military intelligence officer, Leonard was honored with two Bronze Stars, two Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Commendation Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, the Valorous Unit Award, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medals, Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, five Overseas Service Ribbons, the NATO Badge, Parachutist Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge. She is the most senior female US military officer to be killed in combat.
The Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal is a United States Department of Defense service award and campaign medal. The medal was established by Executive Order on 30 March 2016 by U.S. President Barack Obama. The medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace retroactively from 15 June 2014 to a date yet to be determined. Service members who were awarded the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for service that is now covered by the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal may make application to be awarded the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal in lieu of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. No service member will be entitled to the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal for the same action, time period, or service.
Spc. Hilda I. Ortiz Clayton was a U.S. Army combat photographer who was killed in 2013 when a mortar accidentally exploded during an Afghan training exercise. She captured the explosion that killed her and four Afghan soldiers. She was assigned to the 55th Signal Company 21st Signal Brigade, Fort Meade, Maryland. Ortiz Clayton was the first combat documentation and production specialist to be killed in Afghanistan.
Shannon Mary Kent was a United States Navy sailor who was deployed to Syria as a cryptologic technician and killed in the 2019 Manbij bombing.
John F. King is a retired American military officer and the state of Georgia's Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner. He was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp as commissioner on July 1, 2019, replacing Jim Beck. Beck was elected in 2018, but suspended by Governor Kemp on May 16, 2019, pending an investigation into allegations of illegal activity committed prior to his taking office. After Beck's conviction of 37 criminal counts of fraud and money laundering on July 22, 2021, Beck was fully and immediately removed from office as per Georgia law, and King became the permanent insurance commissioner. King was re-elected to this position in 2022. King's appointment makes him the first Hispanic statewide official in Georgia's history. A native of Mexico, King is fluent in Spanish.
