Army Spc. Allen D. Kokesh Jr.

Died February 7, 2006 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Yankton, S.D.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 147th Field Artillery, South Dakota Army National Guard, Yankton, S.D.; died Feb. 7 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of injuries sustained Dec. 4 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad.

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Services set for Kokesh

PIERRE, S.D. — Gov. Mike Rounds has asked that flags fly at half staff on Monday in honor of National Guard soldier, Spc. Allen Kokesh Jr., who died the past week of injuries he suffered in Iraq in December.

A memorial service for Kokesh was planned Sunday in Yankton, with the funeral service on Monday in Yankton.

Kokesh, of Yankton, was the third member of the 147th Field Artillery Unit to die as the result of a pair of roadside bombs that hit their convoy.

— Associated Press

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Yankton Guard soldier dies of injuries from December blast

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A National Guard soldier from Yankton has died of injuries received two months ago in Iraq.

Spc. Allen D. Kokesh, Jr., 21, died Tuesday at an Army hospital in Texas, the National Guard said.

Kokesh was part of the 147th Field Artillery Unit and its third member to die from a Dec. 4 roadside explosion in Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class Richard Schild, 40, of Tabor, and Staff Sgt. Daniel Cuka, 27, of Yankton, were killed when two improvised explosive devices were detonated near their vehicles.

Two other unit members, Pvt. Warren Bender, of Redfield, and Sgt. Corey Briest, of Yankton, were injured. Briest remains hospitalized, according to the National Guard.

Kokesh is the 17th military service member from South Dakota or serving in a South Dakota National Guard unit to have died in Iraq and Kuwait.

— Associated Press