Palm Bay Florida Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

DOD Identifies Army Casualty
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 881-11
October 16, 2011


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Jeremiah T. Sancho, 23, of Palm Bay, Fla., died Oct. 13 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

Widow grieves for Palm Bay soldier killed in Afghanistan

Jerry Sancho, 23, was killed Thursday in Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He is pictured with his wife, RaiAnne, 21, during this past Christmas season. / Courtesy photo

Written by
Rick Neale
FLORIDA TODAY

PALM BAY -- During his Army basic-training graduation ceremony in May 2010, Jerry Sancho surprised his longtime girlfriend, RaiAnne Bocco, by dropping to one knee and proposing behind the bleachers at Fort Benning, Ga.

Seven days later, the couple married in the backyard of RaiAnne’s parents’ house in Palm Bay. Jerry’s grandfather, Eddie, an ordained minister, performed the ceremony.

Jerry, 23, an avid comic-book fan and budding artist, was deployed overseas on April 9 as a “mortarman.” The 2007 Palm Bay High graduate was killed Thursday in Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense announced.

RaiAnne, 21, learned of her husband’s death the next day while working at the Palm Bay Kmart. By the time her father picked her up and drove her home, an Army chaplain was already waiting at the house.
read more here