Essex, Richard Allen

Richard Allen Essex was a 23-year-old sergeant from Kelseyville, a small community in California's Lake County. He served as an active-duty soldier assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, based at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii.

On August 16, 2012, Essex was killed in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, a known insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan. According to U.S. Department of Defense casualty reports, his death was the result of a hostile incident. He was one of two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan that day.

Essex died during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign that began in October 2001 following the September 11 attacks. By 2012, the conflict was in its eleventh year, with U.S. and coalition forces engaged in counterinsurgency operations and training Afghan national security forces.

His death was reported by the Department of Defense and noted in local California media. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart, according to official records.

Sergeant Essex is memorialized on the Afghanistan War casualty list maintained by the U.S. National Archives and on the website of the 25th Infantry Division. He was one of 2,356 American service members who died during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sergeant Essex 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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