Lee, Weston Cecil

Also known as: 1LT, COMPANY C, 1ST BATTALION, 325TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 2ND BCT, FORT BRAGG, NC

Combatant

Male Verified

DiedApril 29, 2017

Age25 years old

Location of DeathERBIL, IRAQ

Cause of DeathInjuries sustained from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast during a patrol.

Conflict Operation Inherent Resolve

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Weston Cecil Lee, 25, of Bluffton, Georgia, died in Erbil, Iraq, on April 29, 2017, from injuries sustained in a roadside bomb blast.

Their Story

Weston Cecil Lee was a 25-year-old U.S. Army officer from Bluffton, Georgia. He served as a platoon leader with Company C, 1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He deployed to Iraq in late 2016 as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

On April 29, 2017, 1st Lt. Lee was conducting a patrol outside the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. According to a Department of Defense statement, he died from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position. The incident occurred while he was advising and assisting Iraqi partner forces. No other U.S. service members were reported killed in the blast.

Lee's death occurred during Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led military intervention launched in August 2014 to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The mission involved a coalition of nations providing air support, training, and advisory assistance to Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga units. The area around Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, was a key front in the effort to push ISIS back from territories it captured in 2014.

Following his death, the Department of Defense formally announced the casualty. His remains were returned to the United States, and a memorial service was held at Fort Bragg. His battalion commander, Lt. Col. Hugh McAssey, stated in a press release that Lee was 'an extraordinary young man and officer' who was respected by the paratroopers in his charge.

First Lt. Lee was posthumously promoted to the rank of captain. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Meritorious Service Medal. In 2018, a memorial stone was dedicated in his honor at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia.