Drees, Steven Thomas

Steven Thomas Drees was a 19-year-old from Peshtigo, Wisconsin. He enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned as an infantryman to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Carson, Colorado. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

On June 24, 2009, PFC Drees was on a dismounted patrol in the village of Barge Matal in Afghanistan's Nuristan province when his unit came under enemy small arms fire. He was wounded during this engagement. He was evacuated from the battlefield and transported to the U.S. military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, for advanced care.

Operation Enduring Freedom was the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001 following the September 11 attacks. By 2009, the conflict was in a period of intensified combat as U.S. troop levels surged. Operations in remote eastern provinces like Nuristan involved frequent, close-contact engagements with insurgent forces in difficult terrain.

The Department of Defense announced Drees's death on June 29, 2009. He was survived by his parents and siblings. A memorial service was held in his hometown of Peshtigo, where he was remembered by friends and teachers as a dedicated and positive individual who had wanted to serve.

PFC Drees was posthumously promoted to the rank of Specialist. He is memorialized on the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division memorial wall at Fort Carson and is listed on the Afghanistan War casualty rolls maintained by the Pentagon.

Steven Drees 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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