Dale R. Griffin
Profile
Age: 29
From: Terre Haute, Ind.
Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Incident: Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin died Oct. 27 in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an IED. Also killed were Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, Spc. Jared D. Stanker, Pfc. Christopher I. Walz and Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson.
Died: October 27, 2009
Soldier was ‘free spirit,’ champion wrestler
By Ken Kusmer
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Sgt. Dale Griffin was the son of a Mormon bishop, a champion wrestler and college student who was struggling to find his way in the world when he turned to the military.
Killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the body of the Army sergeant from Terre Haute, Ind., came home in a line of flag-draped coffins saluted in Thursday’s pre-dawn darkness by President Barack Obama at Dover Air Force Base.
The somber return was captured in full view of the media, reflecting Obama’s decision to relax an 18-year ban on such coverage that dates to the 1991 Gulf War and was strengthened by former President George W. Bush. Now families decide whether cameras can document the return.
Griffin’s was the only one to say yes out of the 18 families of fallen Americans who were on the C-17 cargo...