Linde, Darren Michael

Sgt. 1st Class Darren Michael Linde was a 41-year-old soldier from Sidney, Montana. He served with the 818th Engineer Company (Sapper), part of the 164th Engineer Battalion, 68th Troop Command, based in Williston, North Dakota. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, his military service included deployments to Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa.

On December 3, 2012, Linde died in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The Department of Defense listed the cause as hostile. A contemporaneous report from the Billings Gazette, citing military officials, stated he was killed by an improvised explosive device while on a route clearance mission.

Linde's death occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that began in October 2001. By late 2012, U.S. forces were heavily engaged in Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold, conducting counterinsurgency and training missions as part of a troop surge that began in 2009.

Following his death, Linde's body was returned to Montana. The Associated Press reported that a memorial service was held in Sidney, and he was buried with full military honors at the Yellowstone National Cemetery in Laurel, Montana, in December 2012.

Linde was posthumously promoted to Sergeant First Class. He is memorialized on the Afghanistan War casualty lists maintained by the Department of Defense and on the Fallen Heroes Memorial website, which documents service members killed in the conflict.

Sgt. 1st Class Darren M. Linde 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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