The U.S. soldier killed during a special operations raid Thursday morning in Iraq has been identified as Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Okla.
Wheeler was wounded during a firefight as Americans and their Kurdish allies stormed a prison in Hawijah, Iraq, to free hostages held by the Islamic Sate. He succumbed to his wounds in Irbil after receiving medical treatment.
Wheeler’s death marks the first combat fatality in Iraq since the end of the last war there in 2011.
He was assigned to the headquarters unit at the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Born on Nov. 22, 1975, Wheeler joined the army in 1995 and spent the next 15 years on the front line.
During his career he wore many hats, from fire team leader to anti-tank section leader. All told, by the time of his death, he had deployed 14 times in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
