Schofield soldier
dies in Iraq

Joseph Herndon got two
Purple Hearts during duty there

Schofield Barracks Army Spec. Joseph Herndon II, who was shot and killed Thursday while on patrol in Iraq, was a double Purple Heart recipient.

Herndon, 21, of Derby in south-central Kansas, was killed when his unit -- the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment -- came under fire while on patrol in Hawijah, east of Kirkuk. He was the only casualty in the Wolfhound regiment in the attack, which raised the death toll to six for 25th Infantry Division soldiers in Iraq.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Spc. Joseph F. Herndon II, 21, of Derby, Kan., died Thursday in Hawijah, Iraq. His unit was from Schofield Barracks.

Herndon was first wounded on April 7 while conducting security operations when his unit came under mortar fire. He received his second Purple Heart after he was injured in a roadside bomb attack on June 25.

Since the Iraq war began in March 23, 2003, 12 people with Hawaii ties -- 11 soldiers, including six from the 25th Infantry Division, and one civilian -- have been killed. Of the 12 deaths, 11 were due to hostile action. In Afghanistan, two 25th Division soldiers have died.

Herndon is survived by his widow, Melanie, who, through a Schofield Barracks spokeswoman, said she "appreciated the outpouring of support" she has received from her husband's unit, friends and the community. The couple, who are both from Derby, have no children.

He will be buried in Kansas. Funeral arrangements are pending. A private prayer service will be held at Schofield Barracks next week.

Herndon enlisted in the Army last July and was sent to Schofield in November.

Herndon is the 12th Kansan to be killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. As of yesterday, 909 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 674 died as a result of hostile action, and 235 died of nonhostile causes.

The five other 25th Infantry deaths -- four of which were in combat -- are:

>> Pfc. Ernest Sutphin, 21, of Parkersburg, W.Va., who was injured during a night patrol in Hawijah when his Humvee rolled into a canal on March 11. He was taken off a life-support system on March 18. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery of the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

>> Spc. John Amos II, 20, became the division's first combat death on April 4 after a bomb hit his vehicle in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Amos, of Valparaiso, Ind., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment.

>> On May 1, Staff Sgt. Oscar D. Medina, 32, of Chicago, and Spec. Ramon C. Ojeda, 22, of Ramona, Calif., were killed south of Al Amarah when their convoy was attacked. They were assigned to the 25th Division's 84th Engineer Battalion.

>> A day later, Staff Sgt. Todd E. Nunes, 29, of Chapel Hills, Tenn., died in Kirkuk when his convoy was attacked. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment.

The lone Hawaii civilian casualty occurred on March 31 when Big Island resident Wesley Batalona, 48, was one of four American contractors killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Fallujah. The victims worked for Moycock, N.C.-based Blackwater Security.