Army Staff Sgt. Michael D. Thomas

Died April 27, 2007 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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34, of Seffner, Fla.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 27 in Herat province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.

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2 Florida soldiers killed in combat

The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. — A Special Forces soldier and a Marine, both from Florida, were killed on the same day in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military said April 30.

Army Staff Sgt. Michael D. Thomas was killed April 27 in Hirat province, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, the Department of Defense said. Thomas, 34, of Seffner, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, from Fort Bragg, N.C.

In Iraq, Marine Sgt. Peter Woodall died April 27 during combat in Anbar province. Woodall, 25, of Sarasota, was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Thomas, who joined the Army as a military police officer in 1991, had been in Afghanistan for about two months, the military said. He completed his Special Forces training in 2006.

Thomas is survived by his wife, two children, mother and stepfather.

Woodall had been in Iraq since January and had served at least one other tour of duty there, said 2nd Lt. Richard Ulsh, a Marine Corps spokesman from Camp Lejeune. He said Woodall earned a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars and several other medals in six years as a Marine. The Purple Heart is awarded to troops wounded in combat, but Ulsh said he did not know when Woodall was wounded.

Ulsh said Camp Lejeune does not release information about a Marine’s family.