Fallen Soldiers

Died May 13, 2014, in San Antonio Military Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, from wounds suffered May 6, in Harat province, Afghanistan, caused by enemy small-arms fire. He was assigned to 2nd Batalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

Died June 9, 2014, in Logar province, Afghanistan, in a noncombat-related incident. He was assigned to 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

Died June 2, 2014, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by small-arms fire. He was assigned 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Aaron A. Henderson died October 2, 2012 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Oct. 2 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered Sept. 30 from an improvised explosive device in Zombalay Village, Afghanistan.

Army Spc. Brett E. Gornewicz died November 3, 2012 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom, assigned to 178th Engineer Battalion, 412th Theater Engineer Command, U.S. Army Reserve, Oswego, N.Y.; died Nov. 3 of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device in Paktia province, Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Dain T. Venne and Spc. Ryan P. Jayne were also killed in the incident.

Army Staff Sgt. Dain T. Venne died November 3, 2012 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom, assigned to 178th Engineer Battalion, 412th Theater Engineer Command, U.S. Army Reserve, Oswego, N.Y.; died Nov. 3 of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device in Paktia province, Afghanistan. Spc. Ryan P. Jayne and Spc. Brett E. Gornewicz were also killed in the incident.

CPT. Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, was a Special Forces officer assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky. Tarlavsky, a native of New Jersey, was born on May 5th, 1974.

 He was fatally wounded in action on Aug. 12, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq when his unit came under small arms fire and grenade attack.

He entered the Army in July of 1996 as an infantry officer and completed the Special Forces Qualifications Course at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2001. He then moved to his first assignment as a detachment commander in Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th SFG. He has deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism to both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medals, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medals, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Overseas Ribbon. He also earned the Air Assault and Parachutist Badges, as well as the Ranger Tab.

Tarlavsky is survived by his wife Tricia and their 10 month-old son, Joseph Michael, both of Clarksville, Tennessee.

Master Sgt. Kelly L. Hornbeck, a Special Forces team sergeant assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colo., was a 36-year-old native of Fort Worth, Texas.

 He died Jan. 18, 2004 in Iraq from wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated during a combat patrol near Baghdad.

Hornbeck enlisted in the Army in 1987 and first trained as an infantryman at Fort Benning, Ga., where he would later serve as a drill sergeant. Hornbeck’s initial assignment was with the 3rd Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard,” at Fort Myer, Va.

Following his initial enlistment, he volunteered for duty with the U.S. Army Special Forces in 1990. After training as a Special Forces weapons sergeant, Hornbeck went on to serve in the 7th and 10th Special Forces groups. During his career as a special operations Soldier, he served as a combat diver, a military free fall parachutist and a jumpmaster, among many other duties. Hornbeck was also a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger Course.

Awards: Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Drill Sergeant Identification Badge, the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, the Combat Diver Badge, the Ranger Tab and the Special Forces Tab.

Hornbeck is survived by his daughters, Tyler Rae Hornbeck and Jaqueline McCall, and his parents, Jeffrey and Camille Hornbeck.

 Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, 28, was a Special Forces detachment commander assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

 He was killed in Afghanistan on May 29, 2004 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device near Kandahar.

Eggers was a native of Cape Coral, Fla., and was commissioned in May 1997 after graduation from The Citadel Military College of South Carolina where he majored in history. Following a deployment to Afghanistan in March 2003 with the 3rd SFG, he was assigned to Company A as a detachment commander.

Awards: Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab.

Eggers is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and their children John, 6, and William, 3. His parents, William and Margaret Eggers of Cape Coral, Fla., also survive him.