Finniginam, Eric Mabtong

Eric Mabtong Finniginam was a 26-year-old soldier from Colonia, Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia. He served as a Specialist in the U.S. Army, assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

On May 1, 2010, Finniginam was killed in Abad, a village in the volatile Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan. According to U.S. military reports, his unit was engaged by enemy small-arms fire during a combat operation. He was one of two soldiers from his battalion killed in the same engagement.

His death occurred during a period of intense fighting following a major U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan. The Taliban and other insurgent groups maintained a strong presence in the mountainous eastern provinces, where U.S. forces conducted frequent counterinsurgency operations. The war, then in its ninth year, was the longest in American history.

The Department of Defense announced his death on May 3, 2010. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and other service medals. His remains were returned to his family in Yap.

Finniginam is memorialized on the 4th Infantry Division monument at Fort Carson and on online veterans' memorials. He is one of over 100 service members from the Federated States of Micronesia who have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces since 2001.

Eric Finniginam 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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