Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey D. Kettle

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey D. Kettle, 31, of Madill, Okla.

SFC Kettle was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Aug. 12, 2007 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Jesse G. Clowers Jr. and Sgt. Charles B. Kitowski III.

Soldier from Oklahoma killed in Afghanistan

A soldier with ties to Oklahoma has been killed in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Monday evening.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey D. Kettle, 31, whose hometown was listed as Madill, was killed Sunday in Nangarhar province, northeast of Forward Operating Base Khogyani in eastern Afghanistan, the Defense Department said. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.

He and two other soldiers were killed after a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle, the department said.

Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Jesse G. Clowers Jr., 27, of Herndon, Va., and Army Sgt. Charles B. Kitowski III, 31, of Farmers Branch, Texas.

Nangarhar province borders Pakistan. U.S. forces recently have been battling elements of the Taliban and insurgents in the area, according to reports.

Madill, with a population of about 3,400, is in Marshall County near Lake Texoma, 170 miles south of Tulsa.

It wasn't immediately clear Monday night when or how long Kettle had lived in Madill, and the town's only funeral home, Watts Funeral Home, had not been contacted by family members.

Kettle, who was born in Texas City, Texas, and enlisted in the Army in November 1993, is survived by his wife, Brandi Kettle, and two sons, Jeffrey and Logan Kettle of Raeford, N.C.; and his parents, Ronald and Cynthia Kettle of League City, Texas, according to a news release from the Army Special Operations Command.

Kettle is the eighth member of the military with Oklahoma ties who has been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom since it began in 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey D. Kettle was killed in action on 8/12/07.