Army Sgt. Aaron K. Kramer

Died September 16, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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22, of Salt Lake City, Utah; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Sept. 16 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

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101st Airborne soldier killed in southern Afghanistan

By Jake Lowary

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle

Fort Campbell reported its first casualty in Afghanistan in a week with the death of a 2nd Brigade Combat Team soldier in Kandahar.

The Defense Department said Sept 17 that Sgt. Aaron K. Kramer, 22, of Salt Lake City, Utah, died Wednesday in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan of wounds from small-arms fired. Kandahar has become known as a contentious hotbed of insurgent activity.

Kramer was the first soldier from the 101st Airborne Division to be killed in Afghanistan in a week. Three soldiers from Fort Campbell have been killed this month.

Kramer was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd BCT.

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Brother says goodbye to his ‘best friend’

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — A 22-year-old soldier from Utah who was killed in Afghanistan is being remembered as a selfless patriot who was proud to fight for his country.

More than 100 friends and family members gathered at an LDS Church chapel in Salt Lake City on Sept. 25 to bid farewell to Sgt. Aaron Kramer.

Kramer was shot Sept. 16 in a firefight with the Taliban. He was a member of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

His family says he decided when he was 13 he wanted to join the Army, after witnessing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

His twin brother, Brandon, said he wished everyone knew his brother the way he did. “Not everyone is born with their best friend,” he said.