Helton, Justin Ryan
Male
Verified U.S. Army Specialist Justin Ryan Helton, 25, of Beaver, Ohio, was killed in a hostile incident at Apache Role II, Afghanistan, on June 9, 2014.
Their Story
Specialist Justin Ryan Helton was a soldier assigned to the 18th Ordnance Company, 192nd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The unit specialized in explosive ordnance disposal. Helton, a native of Beaver, Ohio, was 25 years old at the time of his deployment to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
On June 9, 2014, Helton died from wounds sustained in a hostile incident at Forward Operating Base Apache Role II, located in Zabul Province, southern Afghanistan. According to U.S. Department of Defense casualty reports, he was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom at the time of his death. No further specific details of the engagement were publicly released.
Helton's death occurred during the final years of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led combat mission in Afghanistan that began in October 2001. By mid-2014, international forces were in a period of transition, drawing down troop levels and shifting primary security responsibility to Afghan National Security Forces ahead of the mission's formal conclusion.
Following his death, Helton's body was returned to the United States. A memorial service was held in his hometown of Beaver, Ohio, where he was remembered by family, friends, and fellow soldiers. The U.S. Army posthumously awarded him the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and other service medals.
Specialist Helton is memorialized on the Afghanistan War casualty rolls maintained by the Department of Defense and on local monuments in Pike County, Ohio. His name is included in the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's remembrance of fallen service members from those conflicts.
Explore Further
Specialist Helton 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.
