Cardenaz, Michael David P

Staff Sergeant Michael David P. Cardenaz was a 29-year-old soldier from Corona, California. He served with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Carson, Colorado. His military service included deployments to Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa.

On February 20, 2010, Cardenaz was killed by enemy small-arms fire during a dismounted patrol in the Chapa Dara district of Kunar Province, a mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan. The patrol was part of a larger operation in the volatile area near the Pakistan border.

His death occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001. In early 2010, U.S. forces were engaged in a significant troop surge, conducting counterinsurgency operations in provinces like Kunar to disrupt militant networks.

According to a Department of Defense news release, Cardenaz was one of two soldiers from Fort Carson killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan that day. His body was returned to the United States, and he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.

Staff Sergeant Cardenaz is remembered on the Afghanistan War Memorial at Fort Carson and is listed on the 4th Brigade Combat Team memorial wall. His name is inscribed on Panel 10W, Line 111 of the Afghanistan Veterans Memorial Wall in Riverside, California.

Staff Sergeant Cardenaz was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001?2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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