08/02/2023
The South Dakota National Guard takes this day to remember the loss of one of America’s finest young Soldiers, Sgt. Allen D. Kokesh, Jr.
Kokesh, 21, of Yankton, was wounded in a deadly roadside bomb in early December 2005 and died Feb. 7, 2006 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.
Kokesh was a member of Charlie Battery, 147th Field Artillery, and was serving in Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The IED attack that occurred Dec. 4, 2005, also claimed the lives of Sgt. 1st Class Richard Schild, 40, of Tabor, and Staff Sgt. Daniel M. Cuka, 27, of Yankton. Both were killed when two separate improvised explosive devices detonated near their HMMWVs, which were en-route to an Iraqi police station.
A fourth Soldier, Sgt. Corey Briest, was also seriously injured in the blast.
Charlie Battery was mobilized in July of 2005 and deployed to the Middle East in October 2005.
