U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 293-10
April 13, 2010
DOD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz, 23, of Ramsey, New Jersey, died April 9, 2010, in Zabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the CV-22 Osprey he was flying in crashed. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia.
PRESS RELEASE: USASOC Soldier killed in aircraft Crash
U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, April 13, 2010) — An Army Ranger died April 9, 2010,from injuries sustained in a CV-22 Osprey crash while operating in southern Afghanistan with Company A, 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
While deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz, 23, was conducting a combat operation targeting a terrorist network in Zabul Province, Afghanistan when the CV-22 Osprey in which he was riding crashed.
Corporal Jankiewicz was rapidly pulled from the wreckage and immediately treated by unit medical personnel, but he quickly succumbed to the injuries he had sustained.
Two U.S. Air Force crew members and a government contractor were also killed. Other Soldiers were also injured in the crash, treated by unit medical personnel and quickly evacuated for medical treatment.
“Corporal Jankiewicz embodied the true spirit of the Ranger. He was a patriot, fearless in combat, and a true warrior. He represents the next “Greatest Generation,” said Colonel Michael E. Kurilla, 75th Ranger Regiment commander. “I wish all of America could have witnessed the character, devotion to duty, and selfless service of Corporal Jankiewicz.”
Corporal Jankiewicz was on his fourth deployment in support of the War on Terror. He had previously deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.
“Corporal Jankiewicz was an inspiration to his unit – always optimistic and seeing the positive side of even the toughest situations. He was a true warrior who clearly understood what he was fighting for”, said Colonel Dan Walrath, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment commander.
Corporal Jankiewicz enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2006 from his hometown of Ramsey, N.J. During his service with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, he served as a grenadier, machine gunner and machine gun team leader.
Jankiewicz is survived by his father, Anthony Jankiewicz of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and mother, Serena Jankiewicz of Ramsey, New Jersey.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, though it is confirmed the crash did not result from enemy fire.
Company A, 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment is based at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz
Killed in action on April 9, 2010
Operation Enduring Freedom
Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz was a machine gun team leader assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was born on January 23, 1987 in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Corporal Jankiewicz was killed during a combat operation in Zabul Province, Afghanistan April 9, 2010 when the CV-22 Osprey aircraft in which he was riding crashed. He was rapidly pulled from the wreckage and treated by unit medical personal, but succumbed quickly to the injuries he had sustained.
Corporal Jankiewicz was on his fourth deployment in support of the War on Terror with one previous deployment to Afghanistan and two to Iraq.
After graduating from Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, New Jersey, Corporal Jankiewicz enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 2006 in Philadelphia. He completed One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as an Infantryman. Then after graduating from the Basic Airborne Course, he was assigned to the Ranger Indoctrination Program also at Fort Benning.
Following graduation from the Ranger Indoctrination Program, Corporal Jankiewicz was assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in May 2007 where he served as a Grenadier, Machine Gunner, and Machine Gun Team Leader.
His military education includes the Basic Airborne Course, Ranger Indoctrination Program, and the U.S. Army Ranger Course.
His awards and decorations include the Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the Parachutist Badge. He has also been awarded the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.
Corporal Jankiewicz is survived by his father Anthony Jankiewicz of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Serena Jankiewicz of Ramsey, New Jersey.
As a Ranger, Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz selflessly lived his life for others while he distinguished himself as a member of the Army’s premier light-infantry unit, which remains continuously deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism. In every instance he fought valiantly as he served his fellow Rangers and our great Nation.
RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!
Corporal Jankiewicz will be laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on 20 April 2010.
Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz was praised at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday for giving “100 percent and then some” as a member of the Army’s most elite infantry unit, the Rangers.
Courtesy of NorthJersey.com
By: Herb Jackson
“Michael was at the very tip of the nation’s spear in the global war on terror,” said Major David Bowlus, the Ranger Regimental Chaplain told mourners at Jankiewicz’s grave. “As we honor him today, may the knowledge that he was one of God’s specially selected agents of wrath give you comfort.”
Jankiewicz, a 23-year-old from Ramsey, served as a grenadier, machine gunner and machine gun team leader as a Ranger. He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, conducting combat operations targeting a terrorist network in Zabul province, when the Air Force CV-22 Osprey he was in crashed April 9, 2010.
A civilian contractor and two Air Force crew members also were killed, and others were injured. The crash of the troublesome tilt-rotor aircraft is under investigation, but the Army Special Operations Command said it was not the result of enemy fire.
At Arlington, the sun shone through a thin layer of clouds Tuesday and birds could be heard singing when there was no traffic from nearby Reagan National Airport. Jankiewicz received military honors, including a casket team, firing party and bugler from Fort Myer, and folded flags were presented to his father and mother, Anthony and Serena Jankiewicz.
Corporal Michael D. Jankiewicz U.S. Secretary of the Army John McHugh also attended the service and got down on one knee afterward to pay his respects to the two parents seated before the grave. Mourners who had arrived in a procession of more than 50 vehicles, led by a Ramsey police car, stood behind seated family members.
It was one 25 funerals on Tuesday at Arlington and one of five that began at 1 p.m. Seconds after Jankiewicz’s firing party raised their rifles and sent three volleys of seven shots each into the air, similar volleys could be heard from another ceremony in the distance.
Jankiewicz was buried in the same Arlington section, No. 60, as Marine Sergeant Christopher Hrbek of Westwood, who was killed in Afghanistan on January 14, 2010. A cemetery spokeswoman said many of the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are in the section.
Bowlus had thanked Jankiewicz’s parents “for the gift of your son” and said it was fitting he be buried among the more than 300,000 veterans at Arlington, including medal of honor winners, presidents and Generals John “Blackjack” Pershing and Omar Bradley.
“Michael rightly joins these men,” Bowlus said. “He will forever be remembered for his service to and sacrifice for his country.”
Family members would not speak to the media at the service, but they and friends have previously said that Jankiewicz had wanted to join the military from the time he was a toddler and would wear fatigues when he attended Ramsey High School.
He joined the Army just a month after graduation in 2006 and served two tours in Iraq before Afghanistan.
His uncle, Paul Jankiewicz, said at his funeral he remembered Michael as a boy playing with a toy rifle and saying he was going to go after bad guys.
“He knew even then,” Jankiewicz said.
JANKIEWICZ, MICHAEL D
- CPL US ARMY
- DATE OF BIRTH: 01/23/1987
- DATE OF DEATH: 04/09/2010
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 9435
- ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard