Kern, Kurt William

Kurt William Kern was a 24-year-old soldier from McAllen, Texas. He served as a Specialist in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, based at Fort Hood, Texas.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Kern died on December 27, 2011, in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province in eastern Afghanistan. The official casualty report listed his death as resulting from hostile action. No further specifics regarding the incident were publicly released in initial announcements.

Kern was deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001. By late 2011, the conflict was in its tenth year, with U.S. and allied forces engaged in counterinsurgency operations and training Afghan national security forces, particularly in volatile eastern provinces like Paktia.

His death was confirmed in a Department of Defense press release. Kern was one of at least 1,889 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan in 2011, which was the deadliest year of the war for American forces.

Kern is memorialized on the Afghanistan War casualty lists and by veterans' organizations. His name appears on the 'Faces of the Fallen' online memorial maintained by *The Washington Post*.

Kurt Kern 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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