DOD Identifies Army Casualties
April 19, 2011

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died April 16, at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an Afghan National Army soldier attacked them with multiple grenades.

Killed were:

Capt. Charles E. Ridgley Jr., 40, of Baltimore, Md. He was assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska; also,

Sgt. 1st Class Charles L. Adkins, 36, of Sandusky, Ohio;

Staff Sgt. Cynthia R. Taylor, 39, of Columbus, Ga.;

Sgt. Linda L. Pierre, 28, Immokalee, Fla.; and

Spc. Joseph B. Cemper, 21, Warrensburg, Mo. They were assigned to the 101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.

For more information on Ridgley, please contact the U.S. Army Alaska public affairs office at 907-384-2072 or 907-384-1542.

For more information on the 101st Airborne Division soldiers, please contact the Fort Campbell public affairs office at 931-561-0131.