Army Sgt. Chester W. Hosford

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Chester W. Hosford, 35, of Hastings, Minn.

Sgt. Hosford was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment, Illinois National Guard, Dixon, Ill.; died July 6, 2009 in Konduz, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

My Web Times -- A man last listed as an Ottawa resident was killed in action Monday in Afghanistan.

Spc. Chester Hosford, 35, deployed with Troop B, 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry based in Dixon, and 1st Lt. Derwin Williams, 41, of Glenwood, were killed when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device near Konduz, Afghanistan.

Hosford enlisted with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1993 and joined the Minnesota Army National Guard as a cavalry scout in June 2006. He transferred to the Illinois Army National Guard in April 2008 as part of the Illinois Training Site Detachment in Marseilles.

He lived in Ottawa just a few months before being deployed to Afghanistan in August 2008 as part of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team to provide police mentor teams to train and mentor the Afghan National Police. It was one of the approximate 30 units with the 33rd IBCT and two units from the 404th Chemical Brigade that deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to form Task Force Phoenix VIII.

Hosford graduated from Sage Creek High School in Peyton, Colo., in 1993. He was single. This was his first deployment.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have to say farewell to two more fallen heroes of the Illinois Army National Guard," said Maj. Gen. William Enyart, Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, in a press release. "The deployment of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team has been tough on all of us, especially on the families of these heroes. As we get through this difficult time, we have to remember the honor and bravery of 1st Lt. Williams and Spc. Hosford. I am saddened by this loss, yet so proud of the soldiers they were and the service they provided to this country."

Williams and Hosford are the 15th and 16th casualties from the Illinois Army National Guard"s 33rd IBCT since their deployment to Afghanistan and are the 31st and 32nd casualties the Illinois National Guard has suffered since operations in Afghanistan and Iraq began.

No information on funeral arrangements has been determined at this time.

Army Sgt. Chester W. Hosford was killed in action on 7/6/09.