On a day of remembrance, news of two more Minnesota casualties

On a day of somber remembrance for three Minnesota National Guard soldiers killed Thursday in a missile attack in Iraq, two more Minnesotans were reported killed as a result of the conflict in Afghanistan.

Army Ranger Ben Kopp of Rosemount, who was wounded July 10, died Saturday at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he had been in a coma. Kopp, who graduated from Rosemount High School in 2006, enlisted that same year.

Kopp's death came the day after Air Force Capt. Thomas J. Gramith, 27, of Eagan, was killed when the fighter jet in which he was a navigator crashed in Afghanistan on Friday, military officials said.

The latest two deaths were announced Sunday as three Minnesota National Guard soldiers killed Thursday in a missile attack in Iraq were being remembered in Stillwater.

"No words can express our feelings toward these soldiers," said Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is visiting soldiers in Iraq. "They're heroes. They were willing to serve our country with honor and courage and strength."

Kopp was on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan when he was wounded in battle. He had already completed two tours of duty in Iraq.

He had not regained consciousness since going into cardiac arrest after being treated for heavy bleeding in the field, according to his mother, Jill Stephenson, in a posting on his CaringBridge website.

"Please continue to say prayers for all of the men and women who so proudly serve our country," Stephenson wrote. "Ben had a deep love of country and has just left a legacy of heroism for all of us to cherish. Be as proud of him as I was as his mother. I have been blessed for 21 years with a beautiful young man who came to be loved by thousands. I thank God for sharing him with me and for allowing him to die proud."

Stephenson said Sunday night that her son joined the military because he admired the service of his great-grandfather in World War II.

She said her son, despite his relatively young age, had a deep awareness of the dangers that he faced and the sacrifices he might be called upon to make, including the loss of his life in combat.

"I think that just shows his heroism, that he was willing to make that sacrifice."

Gramith, who was born in St. Paul and attended St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, was assigned to the 336th Fighter Squadron at Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. He had arrived in Afghanistan in April and was due home in September.

The Associated Press reported that while the crash remains under investigation, military officials do not believe it was the result of enemy fire.

Gramith and his wife, Angela, who lives in North Carolina, are the parents of 6-month-old twin girls, Stella and Eva, his grandfather, Dr. Thomas Okane of St. Paul, said Sunday.

His grandson was "a very able, kind person with wonderful skills" who loved flying and the Air Force, Okane said.

The second of four children, he was born in St. Paul and attended St. Thomas Academy, a private Roman Catholic prep school that emphasizes military leadership, his grandfather said. He studied aeronautical engineering at North Dakota State University in Fargo, graduating in 2005.

Okane described his grandson as a happy man, strong and strapping at 6 feet 4.

His father, Frederick, lives in Naples, Fla., and his mother, Patricia, lives in Colorado, Okane said. His brother, Patrick, lives in St. Paul; a sister, Patricia, lives in St. Louis, and another sister, Liesl, lives in Chicago.

The day before Gramith's death in Afghanistan, Minnesota National Guardsmen Specialist Carlos Wilcox, 27, of Cottage Grove; Specialist Daniel Drevnick, 22, of Woodbury, and Specialist James Wertish, 20, of Olivia, were killed when a rocket thought to have been fired by an Iranian-backed militiaman slammed into their base in Basra, Iraq.

All, including an unidentified fourth Guardsman wounded in the attack, were members of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division and were assigned to the 34th Military Police Company, based in Stillwater.

'Shock and then disbelief'

A silent vigil was held early in the evening in Stillwater to honor the state's most recent fallen soldiers.

Several hundred people, many clutching miniature U.S. flags, gathered at the Stillwater Veterans Memorial for the brief event.

Vases of white and yellow flowers represented each of the dead, and cards and pens were available for those wanting to write messages to the men's families and drop them in baskets.

Earlier Sunday, at a pancake breakfast benefit at American Legion Post 48 in Stillwater, soldiers and military family members spoke of the emotional impact the deaths have had on them.

Specialist David Zolldan, 23, of Bayport, who just last Wednesday arrived home on leave from Iraq, said the three were "truly great guys."

Zolldan said he, Wilcox, Drevnick and Wertish used to head for the Legion post for beers after drills at the nearby Stillwater Armory.

"At first, there was just shock and then disbelief" over their deaths, said Zolldan as his plate of pancakes, bacon and fried eggs sat untouched nearby. "I don't think it has sunk in yet. I just talked to them about a week ago at almost the same spot where the rocket hit."

Zolldan's father, Roger, who along with wife, Leanne, and daughter Sarah helped out with the breakfast, said, "That unit is like a large family. When someone dies or gets injured, it's like losing a family member."

The breakfast, which was planned before the deaths, was organized by the American Legion and the 34th Military Police Company's family readiness group, a support group for the unit's families.

Another visitor to the pancake breakfast was Kristen Fasbender, 23, of Hastings, whose husband, Specialist Gabriel Fasbender, was talking to her on the phone when the rocket attack occurred.

"He was about one-half mile away," Fasbender said. "Knowing that he was so close -- it could have been him, it could have been anybody. ... I am really fortunate that I was on the phone with him so he could tell me, 'Here's what happened, and I'm OK.' "

'They're heartbroken'

Pawlenty, who has been traveling in Iraq since Friday, told Minnesota reporters by phone Sunday he visited comrades of the three soldiers in Basra. "They're very sad. They're heartbroken," he said. "It's a relatively small unit."

Pawlenty said Minnesota's Red Bull unit is playing a historic role in Iraq, with military command over nine of the country's 18 provinces.

He is in Iraq with four other governors: Rick Perry of Texas, Pat Quinn of Illinois, Jay Nixon of Missouri and Jim Gibbons of Nevada.

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