KFOR unveils memorial to those who died serving as Kosovo peacekeepers

Stars and Stripes ^ | June 14, 2002 | Gregory Piatt

[joan]

KFOR unveils memorial to those who died serving as Kosovo peacekeepers

By Gregory Piatt, Kosovo bureau
European edition, Friday, June 14, 2002

Kosovo Force soldiers inaugurated a memorial in the capital, Pristina, this week for colleagues who died while serving in the peacekeeping mission since it began three years ago.

KFOR’s commander, French Lt. Gen. Marcel Valentin, soldiers from the contingents serving in the force and others attended the ceremony Tuesday at the NATO-led mission’s headquarters in the capital.

The memorial honors the 86 military personnel who have lost their lives since KFOR entered the province June 12, 1999. Most of the KFOR personnel died in accidents.

Currently, about 38,000 peacekeepers serve in KFOR, which includes 4,800 U.S. servicemembers.

Following are the 13 U.S. servicemembers who died while serving in KFOR:

¶ Army Spc. Anthony Gilman, July 4, 1999.

¶ Army Spc. Sherwood Brim, July 18, 1999.

¶ Army Sgt. William Wright, July 18, 1999.

¶ Army Spc. Igor Katz, July 28, 1999.

¶ Army Pfc. Benjamin McGill, Aug 1, 1999.

¶ Army Sgt. Jason Pringle, Oct. 1, 1999.

¶ Army Spc. Michael Robbins, Oct 21, 1999.

¶ rmy Staff Sgt. Joseph Suponcic, Dec. 15, 1999.

¶ Army Pfc. Donald Heatherly, Nov. 18, 2000.

¶ Army Spc. James Sakofski, Jun, 1, 2001.

¶ Army Spc. Jason Webber, Nov. 12, 2001.

¶ Army Pfc. Gary S. Kalinofski, March 4, 2001.

¶ Air Force Master Sgt. Thomas Palmer, May 29, 2002.

[joan]

The memorial honors the 86 military personnel who have lost their lives since KFOR entered the province June 12, 1999. Most of the KFOR personnel died in accidents.

I don't know if 86 is a typo or the correct number because when I read about the memorial from another source - Central Europe Online - the other day, I thought it said 68.

[joan]

fyi

[VOA]

Salute to these folks and the families/friends they left behind.

[vooch]

a sad day for those who fell,

The number may actually be 86 by now........the FR tally hasn't been updated for a while.

Can anyone make the case that it was worth those 13 soldier's lives to have protected the KLA ? Clinton got us into this mess , but GWB will get us out !

[VOA]

respectful bump

[LA-Lawyer]

86 is an awful lot of "accidents", as apparently no KFOR soldier has ever lost their life to Albanian terrorism.

[trevorjohnson]

What a waste of American servicemen. There was no purpose for Americans to be there. We protected Muslims. The supposed atrocities were greatly exagerrated in the media. We were duped into another UN No-Win Peacekeeping mission.

[Hoplite]

68, per KFOR.

Also, the Stars and Stripes omits GM2C Burkhart, 11/24/00.