Drawl, Robert Eugene Jr

Robert Eugene Drawl Jr. was a 21-year-old soldier from Alexandria, Virginia. He served as a Specialist with Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, part of Task Force Spartan based at Fort Drum, New York. His unit was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

On August 19, 2006, Specialist Drawl was killed during combat operations in Kunar Province, a mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, his death was the result of hostile fire. He was one of two soldiers from his battalion killed in separate incidents in Kunar that day.

By 2006, Operation Enduring Freedom was in its fifth year. The Taliban had regrouped and intensified an insurgency, particularly in Afghanistan's eastern provinces. U.S. and coalition forces conducted counterinsurgency operations in rugged terrain like Kunar, where engagements with insurgent forces were frequent.

The Department of Defense announced his death on August 21, 2006. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. His remains were returned to the United States for burial.

Specialist Drawl is memorialized on the Afghanistan War Memorial at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond and on online veterans' memorials. His name is inscribed on Panel 9R, Line 126 of the Afghanistan Campaign Memorial at the National Infantry Museum.

Robert Drawl 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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